Met Changes 50-Year Admissions Policy: Non-New Yorkers Must Pay
- 6 years ago
Met Changes 50-Year Admissions Policy: Non-New Yorkers Must Pay
Though the required admission for out-of-towners will result in a relatively modest revenue increase,
Mr. Weiss said, “If every part operates a little bit better, we can get where we need to go.”
Mr. Weiss emphasized that this change was not undertaken lightly and
that the Met had evaluated several possible options, including mandatory admissions for everyone at a lower price point (“We felt an obligation to New Yorkers to not do that”) and charging for special exhibitions (“that would undermine access for New Yorkers”).
Under the new admissions policy, the $15 million that goes toward energy costs like heat
and light will remain intact; the remaining $11 million which offsets the Met’s operating costs (for security and building staff) will reduce on a sliding scale after the first full year, depending on how much incremental revenue the new admissions policy generates, with a cap at $3 million.
For the first time in half a century, visitors to the world’s largest cultural institution, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, will have to pay a mandatory admission fee of $25 if they do not live in New York State under a new policy
that begins March 1, the museum announced on Thursday.
“We can always make the rules more strict,” Mr. Weiss said, “but I’m hoping we don’t have to.”
The required fee was borne of economic necessity, Mr. Weiss said, and is related to a planned decline in New York City funds to the institution.
In recent years, as competition for donations of money
and art has increased, the Met has sought to keep up with expanding museums in New York like the Museum of Modern Art, now in the midst of a major renovation, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, which recently opened a new home in Manhattan’s meatpacking district, where it is drawing large crowds.
Though the required admission for out-of-towners will result in a relatively modest revenue increase,
Mr. Weiss said, “If every part operates a little bit better, we can get where we need to go.”
Mr. Weiss emphasized that this change was not undertaken lightly and
that the Met had evaluated several possible options, including mandatory admissions for everyone at a lower price point (“We felt an obligation to New Yorkers to not do that”) and charging for special exhibitions (“that would undermine access for New Yorkers”).
Under the new admissions policy, the $15 million that goes toward energy costs like heat
and light will remain intact; the remaining $11 million which offsets the Met’s operating costs (for security and building staff) will reduce on a sliding scale after the first full year, depending on how much incremental revenue the new admissions policy generates, with a cap at $3 million.
For the first time in half a century, visitors to the world’s largest cultural institution, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, will have to pay a mandatory admission fee of $25 if they do not live in New York State under a new policy
that begins March 1, the museum announced on Thursday.
“We can always make the rules more strict,” Mr. Weiss said, “but I’m hoping we don’t have to.”
The required fee was borne of economic necessity, Mr. Weiss said, and is related to a planned decline in New York City funds to the institution.
In recent years, as competition for donations of money
and art has increased, the Met has sought to keep up with expanding museums in New York like the Museum of Modern Art, now in the midst of a major renovation, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, which recently opened a new home in Manhattan’s meatpacking district, where it is drawing large crowds.