June 3, 2008

Free NYC museum hours for summer 2008

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 are always free, or operate under a not-well-advertised "suggested donation� admission, which allows everyone to pay whatever admission price they like anytime. For example, at the Met Museum, you're required to pay only a penny for full access, but their website does carry this request: "To help cover the cost of special exhibitions, for which there is no additional charge or special ticketing, we ask that you please pay the full suggested amount.�

However, some museums with suggested donations or free hours still have extra fees for some exhibitions, as the Brooklyn Museum does for its "© MURAKAMI" show.

Museums with a "suggested donation" all the time
Metropolitan Museum of Art - ($20 recommended)
The Cloisters - ($20 recommended)
American Museum of Natural History ($15 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)
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)
Sculpture Center - ($5 recommended)
Staten Island Museum - ($2 recommended)

Museums with free or pay-what-you-wish hours

Tuesdays
Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free all day Tuesday, all year around (normally $8)
China Institute Gallery - free from 6 to 8 p.m. (normally $7)
Wave Hill gardens - Free all day during off-peak months (January–April, July–August, November–December) and free 9 a.m. to noon during peak months (May–June, September–October) (normally $6)
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)

Wednesdays
Bronx Zoo - Admission by optional "donation" all day (new spring/summer rates are normally $15)
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 (grounds-only access normally $6)
Van Cortlandt House Museum - free all day (normally $5)
Transit Museum - seniors free all day (normally $3 for seniors)

Thursdays
New Museum - Free from 7 to 10 p.m. (normally $12)
China Institute Gallery - free from 6 to 8 p.m. (normally $7)

Fridays
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)
International Center of Photography - "voluntary contribution" admission from 5 to 8 p.m. (normally $12)
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)
Rubin Museum of Art - Free from 7 to 10 p.m. (normally $10)
South Street Seaport Museum - Free Fridays from 5 to 9 p.m. on the third Friday of each month, sometimes with free harbor sails (museum admission normally $10)
Folk Art Museum - Free from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (normally $9)
Children’s Museum of Manhattan - Free the first Friday of each month from 5 to 8 p.m. (normally $9)
Bronx Museum - Free noon to 8 p.m. (normally $5 suggested)
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., but free Fridays are suspended July 4 to Labor Day. (normally $10)
NY Hall of Science - Free 2 to 5 p.m., but only September through June (normally $11)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free for seniors (normally $4 for seniors)

Saturdays
Jewish Museum - Free from 11:00 a.m. - 5:45 p.m. (normally $12)
NY Botanical Garden - Free grounds access from 10 a.m. to noon(grounds-only access normally $6)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free from 10 a.m. to noon (normally $8)
Wave Hill - Free from 9 a.m. to noon (normally $6)
Brooklyn Museum - Free First Saturdays of most months from 5 to 11 p.m., but "© MURAKAMI" still costs $10 (normally a suggested $8)
New Museum - First Saturdays for Families offers free admission and events from 10 a.m. to noon with tickets given out on a first-come, first-served basis (museum admission normally $12

Sundays
NY Hall of Science - Free 10 to 11 a.m. but only September through June (normally $11)
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)
Morgan Library & Museum - Free access to the McKim rooms (Mr. Morgan’s library and study) from 4 to 6 p.m. (full museum access $12)

Note: Prices listed are for adults unless otherwise noted.

Image source: From Selections from the Collection: New York in the 1940s, which will open at the Guggenheim on June 13 and run through September 8.

Matta (Roberto Sebastián Matta Echaurren)
Each And, 1947, Oil on canvas, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Gift, Dr. Ruth Stephan, 1965

June 3, 2008 2:36 PM in Cheap Stuff, Downtown, Kids, Midtown, Museums, Out of Manhattan, Sightsology, Upper East Side, Upper West Side

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