Ward E Councilman James Solomon says he opposes Mayor Fulop’s plan — announced yesterday — to build an outpost of the Centre Pompidou modern art museum in a new building in Journal Square.In an editorial yesterday in Hudson County View, the mayor said the proposed museum would be located in a 100,000 sq. ft. space in a new 60-story residential building to be constructed by KRE directly behind the Loews Theatre. The previous plan for “Pompidou x” — shelved earlier this year when the state pulled funding due to a $19 million operating deficit — would have located it in the Pathside Building next to the Transportation Center.Said Solomon, “I want to make world-class arts and culture available to all in Jersey City as much as anyone who calls our city home. But we are in a budget crisis fueled exactly by the kinds of tax breaks to wealthy developers proposed to fund this museum. This is not a good deal for Jersey City residents.” According to Fulop, the museum space would be provided to the city in exchange for a 30-year tax abatement on 808 Pavonia Ave. The developer would also make a $2 million contribution to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The mayor said the $50 million museum project would be built with union labor.The mayor did not explain how the construction would be paid for. Nor did the mayor address operating expenses — estimated at $23 million per year for the previous plan — and how they would be met. It was unclear whether the city would own the space or merely have a long term lease.Jersey City spent approximately $12 million in architectural, engineering, legal and other other fees for the build-out of the now scuttled plan for the Pathside Building. It isn’t clear whether any of those expenditures are transferable to a new location. The city spent approximately $10 million acquiring the building, which the mayor says could now be re-purposed.Fulop called the new proposal a “game changer” and “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” that would “deliver lasting economic impacts, creating hundreds of jobs, generating millions in new state and local tax revenue from visitors.”“In this instance, the cost to taxpayers is more expensive than just this abatement – Jersey City will pay millions annually to subsidize the museum once built.  My commitment to the working families of this city demands I vote against this real estate tax break.”The post Solomon Comes Out Against Mayor’s New Pompidou Plan appeared first on Jersey City Times.