Over 200 individuals, together with present and former Brooklyn Museum employees and supporters, rallied exterior the establishment throughout a fundraising occasion tonight, February 25, to protest the latest sweeping layoffs impacting almost 50 full- and part-time employees members.
Beginning at 6pm, concurrently with the invitation-only Chairman’s Dinner, demonstrators held indicators that learn “Art Workers Won’t Kiss Ass” and “Say, Brooklyn Museum, Heard You Can’t Read a Contract!” One other signal collaged museum Director Anne Pasternak’s face with photographs of President Trump and Elon Musk.
The rally was organized by District Council 37 Native 1502 and UAW Native 2110, the 2 unions representing employees on the Brooklyn Museum, which decried management’s resolution to chop employees throughout departments with out making an attempt to barter with their respective bargaining items or providing buyouts or furloughs.
Protesters held an indication collaging Brooklyn Museum Director Anne Pasternak’s face with photographs of President Trump and Elon Musk.
“Leadership needs to act — this is what this rally is about,” Liz St. George, an assistant curator within the Ornamental Arts division who was affected by the layoffs and unit chair for Native 2110, informed Hyperallergic on the rally.
“We want them to respect our contract, which they did not, and they did not give us 30 days notice of reorganization, which they bargained with us in good faith over,” St. George continued. “We want them to respect workers here at the Brooklyn Museum and show that by not laying us off, we are the heart and soul of this place, and this place is nothing without the people that do the work on the ground.”
A spokesperson for the Brooklyn Museum informed Hyperallergic that the establishment “continues its good faith negotiations with both unions.”
“We respect the rights of our union-represented employees to organize and rally,” the spokesperson stated. “To be clear, we made the formal notification of layoffs on February 7 and we have been in negotiations regarding the terms related to these reductions since that date. And we will continue bargaining in accordance with our contracts.”
The rally was organized by District Council 37 Native 1502 and UAW Native 2110, the 2 unions representing employees on the Brooklyn Museum,.
Hyperallergic reported on the anticipated layoffs on February 6. The following morning, Director Anne Pasternak confirmed the cuts throughout an all-staff assembly on the museum, informing staff of a $10 million finances deficit that she stated necessitated “difficult cuts and strategic investments.” A complete of 47 employees had been laid off, over 10% of the museum’s employees, amongst them curators, educators, conservators, guards, and retail employees.
Along with the sweeping layoffs, Pasternak stated different cost-cutting measures would come with wage cuts of as much as 20% for senior management and a discount within the variety of applications and exhibitions. In 2023, the newest yr for which monetary filings are publicly out there, Pasternak’s compensation stood at $1,012,633. Former Chief Working Officer Kimberly Panicek Trueblood, who departed the museum final December for unclear causes together with Chief Folks Officer Allison Avery, earned $369,054 that yr.
Some 200 individuals participated within the protest. 
A complete of 47 employees had been laid off, over 10% of the museum’s employees.
The museum’s announcement, stated a joint press launch from the unions, got here “after the museum spent millions of dollars on expensive events to celebrate its 200th anniversary.” A former curatorial staffer who was laid off and requested to talk anonymously stated the timing of the layoffs was a “slap in the face.”
“After celebrating the 200th anniversary, which was hands on deck, for them to go through these layoffs in such a cruel manner … It tarnished the legacy of the museum and the spirit of what the museum says it’s supposed to respect,” the previous employee stated.
Among the many attendees at tonight’s rally was Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who addressed the group as he referred to as on the town to cowl the museum’s deficit in its upcoming finances.
“I want to call upon the mayor of the city of New York City,” Reynoso stated to protesters via a megaphone. “These museums are a public asset, they are here to do a public good people come in for free.”
“These workers are on the chopping block and the budget can help us do something about it,” Reynoso stated.
Pasternak’s compensation stood at $1,012,633 in 2023. 
A former curatorial staffer who was laid off stated the timing of the layoffs was a “slap in the face.”
Council Member Crystal Hudson of Brooklyn’s District 35, representing the Brooklyn Museum’s neighborhood of Crown Heights, was current on the rally together with different elected officers.
“We have an affordability crisis in New York City; people should care about anyone who’s at risk of losing their job,” Husdon informed Hyperallergic. “The best possible outcome is the museum gets the money that it needs to avoid the layoffs and finds a way to avoid the layoffs sort of in the interim.”
Rafael Ramos, a retired New York Aquarium worker wore a inexperienced DC 37 Native 1502 t-shirt and held protest indicators in entrance of site visitors
“I came out here on my own time to support them,” Ramos informed Hyperallergic. “My parents brought me here, I brought my kids here, and it’s just sad what they’re doing.”
The layoffs coincide with the museum’s 2 hundredth anniversary.
The museum is dealing with a $10 million deficit underneath Pasternak’s management. 
“Shame on the Brooklyn Museum,” learn one of many protest indicators (picture Isa Farfan/Hyperallergic)