April 04, 2007

Spring's free museum hours in New York City

(Update: This list is now outdated. Please go to New York Museums page for the link to the most current list of free museum hours.)

Many New York City museums set aside at least a few hours each week when the public is allowed in for free.

That's In addition to the museums that operate under a not-well-advertised “suggested donation” admission, which allows everyone to pay whatever admission price they like at anytime. (At the Met Museum, you're required to pay only a penny for full access.)

Some of those free hours have recently changed, and new ones have begun. Here is the updated list for Spring 2007:

Museums with a "suggested donation" all the time
Metropolitan Museum of Art - ($20 recommended)
The Cloisters - ($20 recommended)
American Museum of Natural History ($14 recommended)
Tribute Center at WTC site ($10 recommended)
Museum of the City of New York - ($9 recommended)
Brooklyn Museum - ($8 recommended)
Studio Museum in Harlem - ($7 recommended)
Museum of Biblical Art ($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 - ($2 recommended)
Staten Island Museum - ($2 recommended)

Museums with free or pay-what-you-wish hours
Tuesday
Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free all day (normally $5)
Wave Hill gardens - Free all day (normally $4)
Morgan Library & Museum - Free access to the McKim rooms (Mr. Morgan’s library and study) from 3 to 5 p.m. (full museum access $12)

Wednesday
Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust - Free from 4 to 8 p.m. (normally $10)
NY Botanical Garden - Free grounds access all day (normally $6)
Bronx Zoo - Admission by optional "donation" all day (normally $14)
Transit Museum - seniors free all day (normally $3 for seniors)

Thursday
Museum of Arts & Design - Pay-what-you-wish from 6 to 8 p.m. (normally $9)
el Museo del Barrio - Seniors free all day (normally $4 for seniors)

Friday
Museum of Modern Art - Free from 4 to 8 p.m. (normally $20)
Whitney Museum of American Art - Pay-what-you-wish from 6 to 9 p.m. (normally $15)
Guggenheim - Pay-what-you-wish from 5:45 to 7:45 p.m. (normally $18)
Morgan Library & Museum - Free from 7 to 9 p.m. (normally $12)
New-York Historical Society - Free from 6 to 8 p.m. (normally $10)
Museum of the Moving Image - Free from 4 to 8 p.m. (normally $10)
Bronx Museum - Free all day (normally $5)
Rubin Museum of Art - Free from 7 to 10 p.m. (normally $10)
Folk Art Museum - Free from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (normally $9)
International Center of Photography - "voluntary contribution" admission from 5 to 8 p.m. (normally $12)
The Noguchi Museum - Pay-what-you-wish on the first Friday of each month, all day (normally $10)
Asia Society - Free 6 to 9 p.m. except July 4 through Labor Day (normally $10)
NY Hall of Science - Free 2 to 5 p.m., but only through June (normally $11)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free for seniors all day, all year (normally $4 for seniors)

Saturday
Jewish Museum - Free from 11:00 a.m. - 5:45 p.m. (normally $12)
Brooklyn Museum - Free First Saturdays of each month from 5 to 11 p.m (normally a suggested $8)
NY Botanical Garden - Free grounds access from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays (normally $6)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free from 10 a.m. to noon - except during Sakura Matsuri (normally $5)
Wave Hill - Free Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon (normally $4)

Sunday
Frick Collection - Pay-what-you-wish from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (normally $15)
Museum of the City of New York - Free from 10 a.m. to noon (normally a suggested $9)
NY Hall of Science - Free 10 to 11 a.m., but only through June, May 28 (normally $11)
Morgan Library & Museum - Access is free to the McKim rooms (Mr. Morgan’s library and study) from 4 to 6 p.m. (full museum access $12)

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

Note: Prices listed are for adults unless otherwise noted.

Image credit: Museum of Modern Art; Roy Lichtenstein, "Girl with Ball," 1961, Oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas (Gift of Philip Johnson) © 2005 Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

Correction: The Whitney's free hours have been updated/corrected.

June update: The Dahesh Museum is now free all summer, every day through August; and the Hall o Science has extended its twice-weekly free hours through June.

April 4, 2007 09:47 AM in Cheap Stuff, Museums, Sightsology

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