Money issues may sink proposed New Jersey branch of acclaimed Paris museum. Mayor blames politics

New Jersey officials say financial concerns spurred state lawmakers to rescind $24 million in funding for a planned outpost of Paris’ acclaimed Pompidou Center in Jersey City. But the city’s mayor believes his deteriorating relationship with Gov. Phil Murphy led to the decision. Centre Pompidou x Jersey City was to be built on the site of a gutted industrial building, not far from where the Statue of Liberty stands in New York Harbor. At the time, it was seen as a way to attract tourists and New Yorkers into Jersey City’s rapidly developing Journal Square neighborhood. It would have been the French museum’s first venture in North America.