SOUTH STREET SEAPORT — Leaders of the sinking Seaport Museum New York spent far more than they could afford before going belly-up, the museum's new manager said this week.
"The Seaport Museum has overspent, and its expenses vastly exceed its income," said Susan Henshaw Jones, who is overseeing the revival of the Seaport Museum as president of the Museum of the City of New York.
"Its mission did not fail. Its income statement was the source of its failure."
In 2008 and 2009, the most recent years for which information is available, museum trustees loaned the institution about $4 million just so it had enough cash to continue operating, according to tax documents. In 2008 the museum lost more than $1 million, while in 2009 it turned a small profit, thanks to a boost in donations, tax documents showed.
But by early 2011, the museum was forced to close and lay off more than half of its staff because it no longer had enough money to meet payroll.
At her first public meeting with Community Board 1 and Seaport activists Tuesday night, Jones vowed to get the Seaport Museum back on track by identifying new revenue sources.
Jones — who will take control of the museum for an 18-month trial period using a $2 million grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. — also promised to maintain the museum's fleet of historic vessels, open "edgy" new exhibits, increase the museum's visibility, launch visitor and community programs, attract new members and reorganize the library.
"I come to this task of trying to rescue Seaport Museum with the best of intentions," Jones said, adding she is "seeking to return to the early mission of the combination of the buildings and the ships to tell the story of New York's glorious past as a seaport."
To enact these changes, Jones appointed Jerry Gallagher, the City Museum's vice president of facilities, as the day-to-day manager of the Seaport Museum. It is unclear when Gallagher will officially assume his new role, as the position is currently held by Seaport Museum President Mary Pelzer.
A Seaport Museum spokesman declined to comment.
Dozens of Save Our Seaport activists, who have been clamoring for a change of leadership at the museum, greeted Jones with lengthy applause Tuesday night and said they were thrilled to have her at the helm.
"I'm a little too old for somersaults, but mentally, I'm somersaulting," said Jim Browne, a Seaport Museum volunteer who lives on Long Island.
Browne said he was impressed with Jones' deep understanding of "the slow process of derailment" of the museum's finances.
Jones told the packed crowd at Southbridge Towers' community room Tuesday night that her roots in the Seaport go all the way back to 1972, when she worked for former Mayor John Lindsay on a lower Manhattan development plan that included funding for what was then known as the South Street Seaport Museum.
The original idea was for revenue from the historic buildings and piers to support the museum, but the model eroded over time, as the Seaport Museum defaulted on payments to the city and the city took over some of the revenue-producing properties, including the Pier 17 mall, Jones said.
Most recently, the city terminated the museum's license for Pier 15 and is now soliciting new operators for the pier, which means the Seaport Museum will have to find a new place to dock the Wavertree, its 1885 wrought-iron sailing ship, Jones said.
"The Seaport Museum now has only Pier 16 under its partial control, and there's simply no room on Pier 16 for all of the vessels," Jones said.
To increase the museum's future revenue, Jones hopes to work out a deal with the city Economic Development Corp. to lift the restrictive rules governing how the Seaport Museum manages the buildings it owns.
Currently, the museum is only allowed to lease its space to cultural groups, based on the concern 30 years ago that if the museum brought in commercial tenants, those businesses might compete with the Pier 17 mall, Jones said.
But the museum has just 10,000 square feet of rentable space in its historic buildings, which should not be viewed as a threat, Jones said.
As she concluded her presentation Tuesday night, Jones told Seaport residents and activists that she could not promise success.
"Whether or not it is going to be possible remains to be seen," Jones said. "We really need you as active supporters."
