July 11, 2006

New York museums and gardens with free hours

Update: Click the link for NewYorkology’s most recent list of free museum hours for New York, updated in December 2006.

If you're crushed for cash but starved for culture, there are a number of short cuts available to get into New York City's best museums and gardens for free.

Many New York City museums operate under a “suggested donation” admission, which allows anyone to pay whatever admission price they like at anytime. And at slack times, some museums offer completely free entry.

NewYorkology has surveyed the current discounts on offer, coming up with a much longer list than the last roundup in January 2005.

Museums with "suggested donation" policies
Metropolitan Museum of Art - ($15 recommended)
The Cloisters - ($15 recommended)
American Museum of Natural History ($14 recommended)
Museum of the City of New York - ($9 recommended)
Brooklyn Museum - ($8 recommended)
Studio Museum in Harlem - ($7 recommended)
el Museo del Barrio - ($6 recommended)
New York City Police Museum - ($5 recommended)
New York City Fire Museum - ($5 recommended)
P.S. 1 MoMA - ($5 recommended)
Queens Museum of Art - ($5 recommended)
Bronx Museum- ($5 recommended)
Museum of Chinese in the Americas - ($3 recommended)
Staten Island Museum - ($2 recommended)

Museums with free hours or days

Wednesdays
Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust - Wednesdays 4 to 8 p.m. (normally $10)
Bronx Museum- Wednesdays (normally $5)
Transit Museum - seniors free on Wednesdays (normally $5)

Thursdays
Jewish Museum - Thursdays 5 to 9 p.m. (normally $10)
Dahesh Museum of Art - First Thursday of each month from 6 to 9 p.m. (normally $10)
el Museo del Barrio - Thursdays free for seniors (normally $6)

Fridays
Museum of the Moving Image - Fridays from 4 to 8 p.m. (normally $10)
Museum of Modern Art - Fridays from 4 to 8 p.m. (normally $20)
Rubin Museum of Art - Fridays 7 to 10 p.m. (normally $10)
Folk Art Museum - Fridays after 5:30 p.m. (normally $9)
Asia Society - Fridays 6 to 9 p.m. except July 4 through Labor Day (normally $10)
Morgan Library & Museum - Fridays 7 to 9 p.m. (normally $12)

Saturdays
Brooklyn Museum - First Saturday of each month (normally $8)

Sundays
Museum of the City of New York - Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon (normally $9)

Multiple days
NY Botanical Garden - Free grounds access all day Wednesdays and 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays (normally $6)
NY Hall of Science - Fridays 2 to 5 p.m. and Sundays 10 to 11 a.m.– except July and August (normally $11)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Fridays free for seniors; Tuesdays free for everyone; Saturdays free from 10 a.m. to noon; plus all weekdays from mid-November through February (normally $5)
Wave Hill - All day Tuesdays; Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon; and every day in December, January and February (normally $4)

Museums with "pay-what-you-wish" hours
Bronx Zoo - Wednesdays (normally $12)
Museum of Arts & Design - Thursdays 6 to 8 p.m. (normally $9)
Guggenheim - Fridays from 5:45 to 7:45 p.m. (normally $18)
Whitney Museum of American Art - Fridays 6 to 9 p.m. (normally $15)
International Center of Photography - Fridays from 5 to 8 p.m. (normally $10)
The Noguchi Museum - First Friday of each month (normally $10)
Frick Collection - Sundays 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (normally $15)

Other museum discounts
South Street Seaport Museum - admission reduced to $5 on Mondays (normally $8)

Note: Prices listed are for adults only.

Image credit: "Tom Wolfe," an oil on canvas from the Lotus Club, is currently on display at The Museum of the City of New York as part of "New York Creative: Portraits by Everett Raymond Kinstler."

Correction: The normal price and free day has been updated for the Museum of the City of NY.

Update: The Guggenheim's Friday pay-what-you-wish hours have been added to the list.

July 11, 2006 09:26 AM in Cheap Stuff, Downtown, Kids, Midtown, Museums, Out of Manhattan, Upper East Side, Upper West Side

®Copyright 2006, All Rights Reserved