Hi all,
I am going to NYC this weekend and heard that museums entrance fees are free until the end of Oct. to draw tourists back to the city..I want to go to MOMA and the Met. Could someone please tell me? Thanks

Most have a suggested donation policy this means they will accept $1 most days. Met offers this as does the Museum of natural history. You would need to ask at Frick, Guggenheim or other museums on your agenda. Quickly becoming a heavily touristed museum is the museum of NY Fireman in downtown area (further up than wallstreet). There is also a gallery on Prince Street that is showing a large number of photos taken by people that were in WTC area on 9/11. Good luck, go to city web page for more details on the free detail you are talking about.

Yes,
Thanks for the reply, but for how long is the fee a "donation" I go to NY city every other weekend...THanks again..

I have lived here for a good 15 years and I don't recall it being different than the suggested donation policy for the museums I mentioned (save for the fireman's). Remember it will say suggested donation or even suggested admission the word suggested tells you that you are able to give a dollar. If you do not see the word suggested ask this was the case for me a year or so ago at the museum of natural history. You will also see this policy at the Cloisters.

The free admission that you are talking about I do not know about.

I suggest you look at nycvisit.com, the official city visitors' site. It looked to me as if maybe there was a bit of dropping of entrance fees -- American Indain Museum, for example -- but not across the board.

Museum of the American Indian is always free. Metropolitan Museum of art and Museum of Natural history are ALWAYS pay-as-you-wish. If you wish to give them five cents, they will let you in. You decide. Museum of Modern Art is pay as you wish only on Fridays, from 4;30 to 8;30 , I think. Guggenheim also pay as you wish Fridays, 6-9pm
This past weekend, there was a city sponsored "Culture Festival" in Bryant park where virtually all NYC museums had booths to encourage people to visit. The only free passes that I could see being given away were at the Museum oF Jewish Heritage which is suffering greatly due to its location near battery Park, and South Street Seaport which was offering you the chance to buy a 6 month museum membership for $1 (yes one dollar) per person. The downtown museums are hurting the most from lack of foot traffic. The museums uptown certainly have fewer visitor, but the numbers have been going up each week and they no longer need to offer free admission as many of them did the first week or two after Sept 11
On the NYC website, details of free admissions and special events have been at http://www.nycvisit.com/visitor.html
but I no longer see a link to any mention of special pricing.

More info?

Considering the quality of the art and artifacts you will see, don't you think you should pay something in return?

Howard, while I don't disagree in principle with what you've said, was that really necessary? I go to NY museums all the time and give different amounts depending on what I plan to do that day. If I go to one small exhibit, I give less, If I plan to spend the afternoon, I give more. If I eat in one of the museum cafes or plan to spend a lot in the gift shop, I may give less (yes, I know that not all the money they take in is profit). The point is, living in and especially visiting NY is expensive and difficult for many people. Of course NY needs all the tourism money it can get at this time, but the museums that offer reduced or pay as you wish admission, along with restaurants participating in Restaurant week (extended until Oct 31), know what they're doing and why. They want us there. Those who want to give and spend more can and will.

xxx, I don't get your point. All I said was that people should pay something and your comments seem to agree with my point about paying something!

Howard, my point was that the OP asked about free museums and people gave info about free museums. While I'm sure your intentions were good, I thought it might come across as a bit too 'preachy'
("don't you think you should pay something in return?") Sorry if I may have offended you. I know we both have the same intention of welcoming visitors to our fair city!

I pay dearly through taxes and realestate to live in NY. If galleries have deemed it reasonable to ask for a suggested donation yes I do think it is honorable to give what I can afford $1. People living in surrounding states but working here pay far less they can pay the full suggested donation amount.

I didn't think I was being preachy! I just think that a museum such at the Met, MOMA, etc., certainly deserve a donation (and more than $1, by the way!) as a way of saying thanks for the privilege of viewing its wonderful masterpieces.
I might add that if every visitor only gave $1 or less, these facilities might not be as available or have as many programs, etc.