In an effort to secure financial backing for the city’s cultural institutions, New York City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who is the chair of the city council’s Cultural Affairs and Libraries Committee, has locked in $3 million of city budget funds to expand MoMA PS1. The funds will be used for the museum to specifically acquire the small apartment building at the rear of its current Romanesque Revival school building at 22-25 Jackson Avenue in Long Island City, Queens.

Van Bramer has revealed that the purchase will allow the museum to expand its exhibition space. The museum is deciding if it will shift its offices from the main building to the apartment structure.

The funding has been apportioned to the museum in capital funds as part of the city’s 2014 budget, which was confirmed last month. Councilman Van Bramer also allotted budget funds for some other arts organizations in his Queens district including The Noguchi Museum, which will receive $600,000 in capital funds for a new generator to replace one damaged by Hurricane Sandy flooding, and SculptureCenter, which will receive $300,000 in funding.

According to DNA Info, the councilman said “It’s a real imperative to expand our cultural institutions, expand their foot prints, increase funding for them and allow them to do more of what they already do well—produce art that brings lots of people to the neighborhood, who then spend money in the neighborhood.”