A cost-cutting decision by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is moving about 100 scientists from offices in a building in New York.
The office space covered by the NASA budget decision is in the building that houses Tom's Restaurant made famous by the TV show "Seinfeld." Its exterior stood in for the fictional Monk's Cafe in the NBC sitcom.
The NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, or GISS, has been in New York since it was founded. Staff moved to the current Columbia University location in the late 1960s, according to the GISS website.
The New York Times reported that there is some confusion about the NASA plan. While NASA said it is ending the lease for the office space, the university owns the building, and an unnamed source from Columbia said the lease is between the university and a different federal agency.
A NASA press secretary indicated in an email that the cancellation of the lease is "part of the administration's government-wide review of leases to increase efficiency," according to the Times.
The NASA spokesperson added, "Over the next several months, employees will be placed on temporary remote work agreements while NASA seeks and evaluates options for a new space."
The director of GISS told the Times that he thought it was doubtful the decision would result in cost savings.
The NASA budget proposal for the next fiscal year announced by the Trump administration on May 2 pointed to sending astronauts back to the moon and farther out to Mars, while shifting spending to "Refocus science and space technology resources to efficiently execute high priority research."
Space News reported that Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., called the budget shortsighted.
"It's dangerous," he said in a statement. He called it a "wholly unserious" proposal.
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