palmettoprincess

Saw it in the news this morning. The Met and the Musuem of Natural History renewed their leases with the current mayor Bloomberg. He modified the agreement so that they can enforce a ticket price.

Boo....

My daugther and I visited the Met and Coisters on two separate days in March. We paid $10 for a morning at the met and $10 for an hour at Cloisters. (Nearly the recommended ticket price of one day admission to both.) I know we would have skipped the Cloisters if we had been required to pay $25 again.

This summer our church took 30 youth participating in a summer camp to the MoNH. There is no way we could have paid the full cost.

I support museums. Heck I'm on the board of one. I also think that public treasures are for the public to enjoy. When learning of the NY trip I tried to join a museum association with reciprocal memberships so I could support the arts and get in without a wait at the ticket line, but the Met is not part of such a group.

NY won't miss my money. I do wonder however how many school groups will start going to DC rather than NY for field trips?

palmettoprincess

PS. If anyone reads this who can change a tag, please change to NY rather than NC. Mouse problems.

Fra_Diavolo

It seems they have formally clarified the museum's right to charge admission as it sees fit, and to charge for special exhibitions.

"While the amended lease does not give the Met any new fee powers, it now formally states that the museum (with the city’s approval) could charge extra for special exhibitions, group tours and other programs “as the museum shall from time to time prescribe,” and could even make its admission fee mandatory."

But: "But Harold Holzer, the museum’s senior vice president for public affairs, who oversees admissions and visitor services, said that “we have no plans to institute either of the above, and no plans to make plans.”'

So for now the policy remains unchanged.

Personally, I think $25 is cheap, especially considering that the tourist in question will very likely be spending over a hundred dollars later that evening to watch some goofy song and dance routine on Broadway. Different strokes, as they say.

nytraveler

What I don;t get is people who will wiling pay $12 or $14 for a Hollywood extravaganza that will be forgotten the next day but don;t want to pay for a couple of the greatest cultureal institutions in the world.

Why support trash when you can support treasures?

Caveat: I grew up in NYC adn these were the special places our parents took us to on weekends - not just these - but often these. I know some people think museums are boring - and granted some are not very good - but these are magnificent.

vjpblovesitaly

"$12 or $14 for a Hollywood extravaganza that will be forgotten the next day"

Plus popcorn, etc.

persimmondeb

More to the point, the "Hollywood Extravaganza" is entertainment, and no-one pretends it's anything else. Museums are cultural treasures, not theme parks, and they should be accessible to the public. Yes, many of the tourists who flock to NYC can afford the suggested price, but some cannot easily, and there are many local or localish visitors who can't. High admission prices reinforce the idea that cultural destinations aren't for "regular" people.

DebitNM

This deb agrees with the deb above, 100%. Being able to go into a museum should be a right, not a privilege, for the residents as well as the visitors.

Fra_Diavolo

"Museums are cultural treasures, not theme parks, and they should be accessible to the public."

They are also extremely expensive to operate. How are we to reconcile this?

DebitNM

I may be the eternal optimist [actually far from it] but I think that people are still willing to pay something WHEN they can; and surprisingly many pay more than what admission would be.

DebitNM

How about getting some of the hotel tax that the city collects to go to the museums??

persimmondeb

They are expensive, and I know many museums are stuck between a rock and a hard place vis a vis operating costs/reasonable admissions, but the Met is solvent. And I believe it gets substantial chunks of city money.

Michael

And I believe it gets substantial chunks of city money.

That's the reason why the amount paid was at the discretion of the visitor; unlike MOMA.

Hobbert

I have no problem paying admission to museums.

Fra_Diavolo

For a glimpse at how complicated this is, take a look at the CFO's report from 2012.

http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-m...%20Officer.pdf

nytraveler

Unfortunately our federal government - unlike that of every other developed nation - does not support most of the wonderful museums around the country. Granted the Smithsonian is free - but most museums are supported very little - if at all - by federal funding.

I look at it like school taxes. If you want what I consider basic services you simply have to pay for them.

And why a museums that is much more enjoyable should be free - and a hollywood bash and crash and shoot em up with no redeeming value whatsoever is worth so much - is beyond me.

NewbE

I think museums should be free and that federal and state governments should subsidize them to make them so because they are edifying. They are good for us. They should not be reserved for people who can afford them, unlike the vast majority of movies, which are not particularly elevating for the culture as a whole. So I feel ambivalent about this change. Of course museums need to find a way to fund themselves, and I personally am happy to pay admission, but I feel very sorry for anyone who feels priced out of visiting.

janisj

>>Unfortunately our federal government - unlike that of every other developed nation - does not support most of the wonderful museums around the country.

Pepper_von_snoot

Thin agrees with the two Debs.

And he does not mean debutants.

Some of you are just plain daft.

Many New Yorkers see art and foreign films at
Angelika, Film Forum, Lincoln Plaza.

Not everyone spends $14 to see some Hollywood trash.

I have many friends in Manhattan who can only afford to go to see a film twice a month and that is a hardship.

Not everyone in Manhattan lives in a doorman building on CPW like you heiresses.


Thin

Michael

Just how many museums in Paris are free?

All of the museums under the direct control of the City of Paris. I know of two: the Petit Palais and the Carnavalet.

christnp

Palmettoporincess, this amendment does not mean that the museum is going to start charging admission. Read more about it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/25/ny...-met.html?_r=0