New Jersey
N.J. pulls funding for Jersey City French museum project, calling it 'no longer viable' • New Jersey Monitor
State officials have yanked funding for a planned French art museum in the heart of Jersey City after determining the project is no longer viable, according to letters obtained by the New Jersey Monitor.
The state Economic Development Authority sent a letter Saturday to the president of The Centre Pompidou museum in Paris telling him the North American location Pompidou wants to open in Jersey City’s Journal Square section will not receive the tens of millions in aid New Jersey has promised. Lawmakers have reallocated state funds previously set aside for the Jersey City Pompidou outpost, a state official wrote in a separate letter to the head of the Jersey City agency overseeing the project.
“Due to the ongoing impact of COVID and multiple global conflicts on the supply chain, rising costs, an irreconcilable operating gap, and the corresponding financial burdens it will create for New Jersey’s taxpayers, the Legislature has rescinded financial support, leaving us to determine that this project is unfortunately no longer feasible,” Economic Development Authority chief Tim Sullivan wrote in a Saturday letter to Laurent Le Bon, the Pompidou’s president.
In the other letter, sent Saturday from Michael Greco, deputy executive director of the Department of State, to Jersey City Redevelopment Agency chief Diana Jeffrey, Greco asked the agency to return $6 million the state department has given for the project but has not been spent yet. The $24 million lawmakers had allocated in the 2024 budget and the $18 million the was part of the 2022 budget has been returned to the state’s general fund, the letter says.
“Based on the Legislature’s actions, there is no longer any State support available for this project,” Greco wrote.
The state’s decision to reassign funds meant for the museum, called the Centre Pompidou x Jersey City, is not a surprise. The city’s mayor, Steve Fulop, went public in April with claims that New Jersey officials were taking funding away from the Pompidou to retaliate against him for retracting his endorsement of first lady Tammy Murphy’s now-scuttled bid for the U.S. Senate.
Fulop is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor next year.
Jersey City and Pompidou officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Economic Development Authority has acknowledged it had doubts about the financial viability of the Jersey City Pompidou project, citing a $19 million hole in the museum’s operating budget. Jersey City had been hoping for a $2 million annual subsidy for the museum, but that will not happen, Greco’s letter says.
Jersey City has until Aug. 1 to return the $6 million provided by the Department of State, the letter adds.
The Centre Pompidou x Jersey City plan has long been criticized by Republicans, who opposed using state funds for it. As Sullivan and Fulop traded barbs over the funding last month, Republican lawmakers wrote a letter to the state urging the funding to go toward a “more responsible purpose.”
The museum was originally slated to open in early 2024, but that was pushed to as late as 2027. When city officials announced plans for the museum in 2021, they said it would reinvigorate Journal Square and transform it into an arts, entertainment, and tourism hub.
In the letter to Pompidou’s president, Sullivan commends its staff for their collaborative work and says he hopes to continue strengthening the “economic and cultural bond” between France and New Jersey. He added he is disappointed by the outcome.
“While the door on this particular project has now been closed, we are eager to explore possibilities of opening new doors, with our partners in France, in the years to come,” he said.
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New Jersey
Police rescue 2 girls after falling through ice on New Jersey lake
Thursday, December 18, 2025 4:41AM
MT HOLLY, N.J. (WPVI) — First responders in Burlington County, New Jersey, rescued two children who fell through the ice on a frozen lake.
Mount Holly police were called to Woolman Lake on Wednesday afternoon.
Officers arrived to find two girls submerged in chest-deep water. A boy had been able to escape the icy waters before officers arrived.
Officers used a rope to pull the two girls to safety.
All three are expected to be OK.
Copyright © 2025 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
New Jersey
Garden State Equality director resigns amid child endangerment, assault charges
Christian Fuscarino resigned Tuesday as executive director of Garden State Equality amid charges of child endangerment and assault after an incident last month with a child in his Neptune City home.
“I resigned from Garden State Equality to ensure that the organization’s work is not impacted by a private family matter,” Fuscarino, a nationally recognized advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, said in a statement on social media.
“While my loved ones and I have been working through this moment together with care and love, the press has turned a deeply personal situation into a public headline,” Fuscarino said.
“Everyone involved is safe and navigating this situation responsibly,” he added.
Fuscarino asked that the matter “be seen for what it is: a private family moment, not a public spectacle.”
Fuscarino, 35, is charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child by a caretaker and two counts of simple assault, according to court documents.
An affidavit of probable cause alleges Fuscarino pulled the child from bed about 8 p.m. on Nov. 9 and struck the victim multiple times in the face with an open hand, pushing the child into a wall during the encounter.
The incident was captured on a home security video system, according to the affidavit.
The child was later taken to the Monmouth County Child Advocacy Center in Freehold for a forensic interview. The child made no disclosure of physical abuse, the affidavit states.
However, another person living in the home told investigators they witnessed Fuscarino strike the child and intervened.
The state Division of Child Protection and Permanency obtained the video and notified the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office on Nov. 20.
A Neptune City police detective arrested Fuscarino on Nov. 21. The case has since been referred to the prosecutor’s office, court records show.
In a statement Tuesday, Garden State Equality said they had placed Fuscarino on leave after learning of the charges.
By Wednesday, Fuscarino’s bio on the Garden State Equality website had been removed.
“Garden State Equality takes allegations against our staff seriously and we oppose violence of any kind,” the agency said. “We respect the courts and will allow that process to be handled by them.”
Fuscarino had served since 2016 as the executive director of Garden State Equality, the largest LGBTQ+ organization in New Jersey, which is based in Asbury Park.
With 20 years of experience in LGBTQ+ advocacy, Fuscarino had been at the forefront of efforts to protect transgender rights, combat hate violence, and implement groundbreaking healthcare and education policies.
In a July 2018 story posted to NJ.com, Fuscarino said he wanted to dedicate his life to helping New Jersey’s LGBTQ+ community so that others would not have to suffer the indignities that he endured in adolescence.
New Jersey
10 hospitalized, including some students, after crash involving school bus in New Jersey
MOORESTOWN, N.J. (WPVI) — Ten people, including several students, were hospitalized Tuesday after a school bus crash in Burlington County, New Jersey.
The collision happened around 3 p.m. at Borton Landing and Hartford roads in Moorestown.
Township officials said in a Facebook post that a car and school bus collided at the intersection, injuring six students, the bus driver and three occupants of the passenger vehicle. All injuries appear to be minor, officials said.
“We have been made aware of a bus accident on one of our routes. There are no significant injuries for our students,” Moorestown Township Public Schools said in a statement.
The remaining students on the bus were taken to a nearby school, where they were picked up by family members.
School counselors will be available this week to provide additional support to students.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Copyright © 2025 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
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