Folk Art Museum looks to keep home

The American Folk Art Museum, which has struggled financially almost since the day it opened its new building in 2001, is trying to reach an agreement that will keep the museum in its current location at 45 West 53rd Street. Six months after disclosing that it could no longer make payments on its $32 million bond, the museum is still in protracted negotiations to restructure its debt with the company that insured its bonds, the New York Times reported. Both sides say they are optimistic they will reach an agreement. The next payment to bondholders, in January, is to be covered by the bond insurer, ACA Financial Guaranty. All bondholders have been paid on time, but for months the museum has been unable to make payments into a debt service fund as required under its agreement with New York City’s Trust for Cultural Resources, the public benefit corporation that issued the tax-exempt bonds for the project. The museum is the first organization to default on an agreement to pay off the bonds issued for it through the trust. [NYT]