He has said that because the museum's curatorial staff is so small, the old system of departments made little sense at Brooklyn.

In 1981 a major addition of a new gallery, shop, search room and offices for curatorial staff was added.

"None of the essential services, from the curatorial staff to the guards, will be reduced," he said in a telephone interview.

The agency would have a director with museum experience, appointed for a term of several years, and a curatorial staff.

Word got around that there was interference with the curatorial staff.

When the building opens in late 2007, the museum will have a larger curatorial staff.

The decision to move should be reconsidered, he added, if it means having to eliminate the society's curatorial staff.

When the museum's curatorial staff started its search a year ago, it didn't know what it would find.

This was disbanded in 2009 along with the loss of many curatorial and other staff.

A steering committee of students, artists, curatorial staff and lecturers was set up.