November 18, 2008

Free museum hours in NYC for Fall/Winter 2008/2009

(Update: This list is now outdated.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 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 costs of special exhibitions, we ask that you please pay the full suggested amount.” Also note that free hours don’t always get you full museum access at some spots.

The good news is that since NewYorkology’s June survey of free museum hours most of the changes are in the favor of the museum goers. Among the museums recently reopened after renovations, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum now has free weekend hours and the Museum of Arts and Design has resumed free Thursday night admission, (but its normal admission has jumped to $15 from $9 now that it’s on Columbus Circle.)

The Studio Museum in Harlem now has free hours on Sunday and the Museum at Eldridge Street is now free Monday mornings.

Here’s the big list:

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

Mondays
Museum at Eldridge Street - opens for free tours every half hour from 10 a.m. to noon (normally $10)
Yeshiva University Museum - from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. (normally $8)
Rubin Museum of Art - Free admission to seniors only (65 and up) all day, but only on the first Monday of every month (normally $7 for seniors)

Tuesdays
Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free all day every Tuesday, all year around, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (normally $8)
China Institute Gallery - free 6 to 8 p.m. (normally $7)
Wave Hill gardens - Free all day during off-peak months (November through April, and again in July through August) and free 9 a.m. to noon during peak months (May, June, September and October) (normally $6)
Museum of the Moving Image is closed for renovations, except for the “Behind the Screen” exhibition which is free with an “optional contribution of $5”
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, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (normally $15)
Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust - Free from 4 to 8 p.m. (normally $10)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free all day every Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but only from Nov. 20 - Feb. 29 (normally $8)
Staten Island Zoo - Free from 2 to 4:45 p.m. (normally $7)
NY Botanical Garden - Free grounds access all day, but note that “This does NOT include admission to the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, Rock and Native Plant Gardens (April–October), or Tram Tour” (grounds-only access normally $6)
Van Cortlandt House Museum - free all day, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (normally $5)
Transit Museum - seniors free all day (normally $3 for seniors)
Museum of the Moving Image is closed for renovations, except for the “Behind the Screen” exhibition which is free with an “optional contribution of $5”

Thursdays
Museum of Arts & Design - Pay-what-you-wish from 6 to 9 p.m. (normally $15)
New Museum - Free from 7 to 10 p.m. (normally $12)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free all day every Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but only from Nov. 20 - Feb. 29 (normally $8)
China Institute Gallery - free 6 to 8 p.m. (normally $7)
Museum of the Moving Image is closed for renovations, except for the “Behind the Screen” exhibition which is free with an “optional contribution of $5”

Fridays
Museum of Modern Art - Free from 4 to 8 p.m. (normally $20)
Guggenheim - Pay-what-you-wish from 5:45 to 7:45 p.m.; last admission at 7:15 p.m. (normally $18)
Whitney Museum of American Art - Pay-what-you-wish from 6 to 9 p.m. (normally $15)
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)
NY Hall of Science - Free 2 to 5 p.m., but only September through June (normally $11)
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)
Children’s Museum of Manhattan - Free the first Friday of each month from 5 to 8 p.m. (normally $10)
The Noguchi Museum - Pay-what-you-wish on the first Friday of each month, all day, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (normally $10)
Asia Society - Free 6 to 9 p.m., but free Fridays are suspended July 4 to Labor Day. (normally $10)
Folk Art Museum - Free from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (normally $9)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free all day every Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but only from Nov. 20 - Feb. 29 (normally $8)
Bronx Museum - Free 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. (normally $5 suggested)
Museum of the Moving Image is closed for renovations, except for the “Behind the Screen” exhibition which is free with an “optional contribution of $5”

Saturdays
Jewish Museum - Free from 11:00 a.m. - 5:45 p.m. (normally $12)
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)
Brooklyn Museum - Free First Saturdays of most months from 5 to 11 p.m. (normally a suggested $8)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free from 10 a.m. to noon (normally $8)
Brooklyn Children’s Museum - free admission to families from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. (normally $5 until Nov. 30 or $7.50 after)
Wave Hill - Free from 9 a.m. to noon (normally $6)
NY Botanical Garden - Free grounds access from 10 a.m. to noon, but note that “This does NOT include admission to the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, Rock and Native Plant Gardens (April–October), or Tram Tour” (grounds-only access normally $6)
el Museo del Barrio is closed for renovations but will be open on Saturdays only for free tours through Dec. 13 to see a single exhibition, “Heresies by Pedro Meyer”
Museum of the Moving Image is closed for renovations, except for the “Behind the Screen” exhibition which is free with an “optional contribution of $5”

Sundays
Frick Collection - Pay-what-you-wish from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (normally $15)
NY Hall of Science - Free 10 to 11 a.m. but only September through June (normally $11)
Museum of the City of New York - Free from 10 a.m. to noon (normally a suggested $9)
Brooklyn Children’s Museum - free admission to families from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. (normally $5 until Nov. 30 or $7.50 after)
Studio Museum in Harlem - free noon to 6 p.m. (normally $7 recommended)
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)
Museum of the Moving Image is closed for renovations, except for the “Behind the Screen” exhibition which is free with an “optional contribution of $5”

Other
Bank of America’s Museums on Us allows cardholders free admission during the first weekend of every month at the Met, Jewish Museum, American Museum of Natural History, NY Hall of Science, Bronx Zoo, NY Aquarium and the International Center for Photography

Note: Prices listed are for adults unless otherwise noted.

Image source: Barkley L. Hendricks, Sweet Thang (Lynn Jenkins), 1975, Courtesy Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, now hanging in The Studio Museum in Harlem’s “Birth of the Cool” exhibition.

Updates: The Yeshiva University Museum and Staten Island Zoo free hours were added to this story after it was originally posted.

Earlier: Sports Museum cuts entry to $16, cites bad economy

November 18, 2008 1:18 PM in Cheap Stuff, Downtown, Kids, Midtown, Museums, Out of Manhattan, Upper East Side, Upper West Side

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