By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A rule preventing museums from selling off their collections to pay off debts will be allowed to lapse next month under a decision announced Wednesday.
The Board of Regents, which is responsible for setting standards for all museums and historical societies, banned institutions from selling their artwork as an emergency measure in December 2008. The decision came as the financial crisis forced many museums to sell off parts of their collections in order to pay off outstanding debt, according to materials provided by the board.
The board renewed that emergency measure several times since then, but announced Wednesday that it would not opt to renew it again because "there was no consensus on the efficacy of those emergency regulations," New York State Education Commissioner David Steiner, whose organization is run by the Board of Regents, said in a statement.
Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, who had previously sponsored a bill to permanently prevent museums from selling off their collections, criticized the board's decision in a statement to the Wall Street Journal.
"This is the precursor of the massive transfer of art held in the public trust into private hands," Brodsky warned, according to the paper. "This is a violation of the duties of the Regents to defend the public."
