September 30, 2009

Museum free hours in NYC for fall/winter 2009/10

Note: This is list is out of date. It’s been replaced by museum free hours for spring/summer 2010. See the top of the New York museums section for current links to free and late-night museums.

The recession has caused many museums to raise admission, reduce staff and delay exhibitions, but the good news is that most are maintaining their free hours.

In addition to the list below, many New York City museums are always free or operate under a not-well-advertised “suggested donation” policy.

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

Mondays
Museum at Eldridge Street - Free tours every half hour from 10 a.m. to noon (normally $10)
Yeshiva University Museum - Free 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. 5 to 8 p.m. (normally $8)

Tuesdays
Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free all day (normally $8)
Museum of American Finance - Free 10 to 11 a.m. (normally $8)
China Institute Gallery* - Free 6 to 8 p.m. (normally $7)
Through October: Wave Hill gardens - Free 9 a.m. to noon (normally $6)
From November-April: Wave Hill gardens - Free all day (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 pay-what-you-wish donation all day (normally $15)
Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust - Free 4 to 8 p.m. (normally $12)
Staten Island Zoo - Free 2 to 4:45 p.m. (normally $8)
Museum of American Finance - Free 10 to 11 a.m. (normally $8)
Yeshiva University Museum - Free 5 to 8 p.m. (Normally $8)
Van Cortlandt House Museum - free all day, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (normally $5)
NY Botanical Garden - Free grounds access all day, but “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)
From Nov. 20 - Feb 27 March 2 only: Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free all day (normally $8)
Through November: Brooklyn Children’s Museum - free 2 to 5 p.m. (normally $7.50)

Thursdays
Museum of Arts & Design - Pay-what-you-wish 6 to 9 p.m. (normally $15)
New Museum - Free 7 to 9 p.m. (normally $12)
Museum of American Finance - Free 10 to 11 a.m. (normally $8)
Museum of Chinese in America - Free all day, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (normally $7)
China Institute Gallery* - Free 6 to 8 p.m. (normally $7)
From Nov. 20 - Feb 27 March 2 only: Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free all day (normally $8)

Fridays
Museum of Modern Art - Free 4 to 8 p.m. (normally $20)
Whitney Museum of American Art - Pay-what-you-wish 6 to 9 p.m. (normally $18)
New York Aquarium - Pay-what-you-wish 3 p.m. until closing (normally $13)
International Center of Photography - “Voluntary contribution” admission 5 to 8 p.m. (normally $12)
Morgan Library & Museum - Free 7 to 9 p.m. (normally $12)
NY Hall of Science - Free 2 to 5 p.m. (normally $11)
Rubin Museum of Art - Free 7 to 10 p.m. (normally $10)
Asia Society - Free 6 to 9 p.m. (normally $10)
Folk Art Museum - Free 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (normally $9)
Yeshiva University Museum - Free 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (normally $8)
Bronx Museum - Free 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. (normally $5 suggested)
Museum of American Finance - Free 10 to 11 a.m. (normally $8)
First Fridays only: Children’s Museum of Manhattan - Free the first Friday of each month 5 to 8 p.m. (normally $10)
First Fridays only: 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)
First Fridays only - (except March 12 not March 5) Neue Galerie - Free from 6 to 8 p.m. (normally $15)
Third Fridays only: South Street Seaport Museum - Free admission from 5 to 9 p.m. but only on the third Friday of each month, sometimes with free harbor sails (museum admission normally $10)
From Nov. 20 - Feb 27 only: Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free all day (normally $8)
Discontinued: New-York Historical Society - Pay-what-you-wish 6 to 8 p.m. (normally $12)

Saturdays
Guggenheim - Pay-what-you-wish 5:45 to 7:45 p.m. “Please note: From January 29 through March 10, Pay What You Wish admission to the museum will be limited” - in capacity. (normally $18)
Jewish Museum - Free all day, from 11 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. (normally $12)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free 10 a.m. to noon (normally $8)
Museum of American Finance - Free 10 to 11 a.m. (normally $8)
Wave Hill - Free 9 a.m. to noon (normally $6)
First Saturdays only Brooklyn Museum - Free admission and programs from 5 to 11 p.m. on the first Saturday of most months (normally a suggested $10)
Third Saturdays only: El Museo del Barrio - Free 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (normally a suggested $6)
NY Botanical Garden - Free grounds access from 10 a.m. to noon, but “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)

Sundays
Frick Collection - Pay-what-you-wish 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (normally $18)
NY Hall of Science - Free 10 to 11 a.m. (normally $11)
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)

Note: All prices listed are for adults unless otherwise noted.

Other free museum events

Many museums will offer free admission for OpenHouse NY on Oct. 10 and 11.

South Street Seaport Museum will offer free admission Oct. 16 if you bring a copy of your birth certificate (since the museum has The Schaghen Letter, the “Birth Certificate of New York,” until Jan. 3.)

Admission will be free at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum from Oct. 18 through 24 for National Design Week.

There will be a Guggenheim free day Oct 21 to mark the museum’s 50th anniversary.

Bank of America’s Museums on Us allows cardholders free admission during the first full weekend of every month at several major museums.

The New Museum offers free First Saturdays for Families from 10 a.m. to noon.

Brooklyn Children’s Museum offers free entry from 10 to 11 a.m. on the weekends of Oct 10/11 and Nov. 14/15.

Changes from the spring 2009 list:

The Whitney raised its admission to $18 from $15.

The Frick Collection raised admission to $18 from $15.

American Museum of Natural History suggested admission went up to $16 from $15.

The New-York Historical Society went up to $12 from $10.

The Museum of the Moving Image, partly closed for renovations, has raised its suggested admission to $7 from $5.

The Museum of Chinese in America reopened in a new location and added Thursday free hours.

Yeshiva University Museum added free hours on Fridays.

Children’s Museum of Manhattan is keeping its First Fridays but instead of pay-what-you-wish all day, it’s now completely free but only from 5 to 8 p.m.

The National Academy Museum ended its pay-as-you-wish Friday hours.

Updates: Since first published, this story was changed to extend the free morning hours for The Museum of American Finance, which had been set to expire in October. “We have extended the free hours indefinitely and are offering free admission for students on Saturday,” a museum spokeswoman told NewYorkology by e-mail in December.

El Museo del Barrio reopened in October after a renovation and added free hours.

Yeshiva University Museum’s new free Wednesday hours were added to the list.

* Please note the China Institute Gallery is often closed for long stretches between exhibitions.

Jan. 20 update: This list was updated with Neue Galerie’s new First Friday hours.

Feb. 6 update: This list was updated with Guggenheim’s capacity limits on its pay-as-you-like hours during the Tino Sehgal exhibition.

March 1 update: Yeshiva Univeristy Museum’s free Monday hours were changed.

March 5 update: New-York Historical Society ended Friday pay-as-you-wish hours. Also added notation that Neue Galerie’s first Fridays will take place on the second Friday during March.

Image source: Used with permission from the Museum of Modern Art’s upcoming exhibition on Tim Burton, from Nov. 22 through April 26. Tim Burton. (American, b. 1958,) Untitled (Creature Series). 1997–1998, Pastel on paper, 14 × 11” (35.6 × 27.9 cm) Private collection. © 2009 Tim Burton.

Related: Museums open late for fall/winter 2009/10 in NYC

September 30, 2009 1:07 PM in Cheap Stuff, Downtown, History, Kids, Museums, Out of Manhattan, Sightsology, Upper East Side, Upper West Side

®Copyright 2004 - 2010, All Rights Reserved