July 27, 2011
Free hours at NYC museums, zoos and gardens
 Update: The list below is old. Please see Free museum hours in NYC for 2012.
New York City’s museums are in a state of flux with some undertaking major renovations (such as the Cooper-Hewitt, the New-York Historical Society and the Museum of the City of New York;) price changes (such as the Met Museum’s increase to $25 from $20 and the Fraunces Tavern Museum’s decrease to $7 from $10;) and others struggling to stay open (such as the mostly closed Seaport Museum and the down-sized American Folk Art Museum.)
Many museums have slowed the pace of new exhibitions and others have cut suggested-admission or free hours. Among those making cuts is the Brooklyn Museum, which last month reduced hours and canceled a high-profile graffiti exhibition. However, the museum is keeping its free First Saturday programs and suggested-admission policy at all other times.
“We are always grateful to visitors who can contribute the full admission price,” Sally Williams, the public information officer for the Brooklyn Museum, said of the suggested $10 admission price. “These difficult economic times have had an impact on most non-profit institutions, like the Brooklyn Museum, as they have for our visitors,” she told NewYorkology via email.
Twice a year, NewYorkology surveys the free and suggested-admission policies at the city’s museums, zoos and gardens. The following day-by-day list is for museums that offer free or pay-as-you-like hours only on a weekly or monthly basis. It complements the lists of always-free NYC museums and the always suggested-donation ones.
Museums with free or pay-what-you-wish hours in 2011
Mondays
Museum at Eldridge Street - Free 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (normally $10)
Yeshiva University Museum - Free 5 to 8 p.m. (normally $8)
Tuesdays
McKim rooms of the Morgan Library & Museum - free 3 to 5 p.m. (full museum access is $15)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free all day (normally $10)
Wave Hill - free 9 a.m. to noon in May, June, September and October; free all day November through April (normally $8)
Nov. 1 through March 31: Queens Botanical Garden - Free from 8 to 4:30 p.m. (normally $4)
Staten Island Museum - Free noon to 2 p.m. (normally $3)
Closed between exhibitions. Next opens Feb. 9, 2012: China Institute Gallery - Free 6 to 8 p.m. (normally $7)
Wednesdays
Bronx Zoo - Pay-what-you-wish donation all day (normally $16)
Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust - Free 4 to 8 p.m. (normally $12)
Nov. 8 to March 11 only: Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free all day (normally $10)
Discontinued: El Museo del Barrio - Free 6 to 9 p.m. (normally a suggested $9)
Staten Island Zoo - Free 2 to 4:45 p.m. (normally $8)
Yeshiva University Museum - Free 5 to 8 p.m. (normally $8)
NY Botanical Garden - Free grounds access all day, but excludes the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, Rock and Native Plant gardens and tram tour (grounds-only access normally $6 $10. A one-day all-garden pass is $20.)
Van Cortlandt House Museum - Free all day, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (normally $5)
Nov. 1 through March 31: Queens Botanical Garden - Free from 8 to 4:30 p.m. (normally $4)
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 $16)
Nov. 8 to March 11 only: Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free all day (normally $10)
Museum of Chinese in America - Free all day, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (normally $7)
Nov. 1 through March 31: Queens Botanical Garden - Free from 8 to 4:30 p.m. (normally $4)
Closed between exhibitions. Next opens Feb. 9, 2012: China Institute Gallery - Free 6 to 8 p.m. (normally $7)
Fridays
Museum of Modern Art - Free 4 to 8:30 8 p.m. (normally $20 $25)
Whitney Museum of American Art - Pay-what-you-wish 6 to 9 p.m. (normally $18)
Morgan Library & Museum - Free 7 to 9 p.m. (normally $15)
Museum of Arts & Design - Pay-what-you-wish 6 to 9 p.m. (normally $15)
New-York Historical Society - Pay-as-you-wish hours from 6 to 8 p.m. (normally $15)
New York Aquarium - Pay-what-you-wish donation 3 to 6 5 4:30 p.m. (normally $14.95)
International Center of Photography - Voluntary contribution admission 5 to 8 p.m. (normally $12)
Museum of the Moving Image - Free 4 to 8 p.m. (normally $10 $12)
NY Hall of Science - Free 2 to 5 p.m., from September through June (normally $11)
Rubin Museum of Art - Free 6 to 10 p.m. (normally $10)
Asia Society - Free 6 to 9 p.m. (normally $10)
Nov. 8 to March 11 only: Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Free all day (normally $10)
Historic Richmond Town - Free 1 to 5 p.m. (normally $8)
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)
Nov. 1 through March 31: Queens Botanical Garden - Free from 8 to 4:30 p.m. (normally $4)
First Fridays only: The Noguchi Museum - Pay-what-you-wish 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (normally $10)
First Fridays only: Children’s Museum of Manhattan - Free the first Friday of each month 5 to 8 p.m. (normally $11)
First Fridays only Neue Galerie - Free from 6 to 8 p.m. (normally $15 $20)
Through Aug. 26 only: Brooklyn Children’s Museum - Free 5 to 7:30 p.m. (normally $7.50)
Saturdays
Guggenheim - Pay-what-you-wish 5:45 to 7:45 p.m. (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 $10)
Wave Hill - Free 9 a.m. to noon (normally $8)
NY Botanical Garden - Free grounds access 10 a.m. to noon 11 a.m., but excludes the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, Rock and Native Plant gardens and tram tour (grounds-only access normally $6 $10. A one-day all-garden pass is $20.)
Nov. 1 through March 31: Queens Botanical Garden - Free from 8 to 4:30 p.m. (normally $4)
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 6 p.m. (normally a suggested $9)
Sunday not Saturday: NY Hall of Science - Free 10 to 11 a.m., from September through June (normally $11)
Sundays
Frick Collection - Pay-what-you-wish 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (normally $18)
McKim rooms of the Morgan Library & Museum - free 4 to 6 p.m. (full museum access is $15)
NY Hall of Science - Free 10 to 11 a.m., from September through June (normally $11)
 Studio Museum in Harlem - Free noon to 6 p.m. (normally $7 recommended)
Museum of Biblical Art free 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (normally $7 recommended)
Nov. 1 through March 31: Queens Botanical Garden - Free from 8 to 4:30 p.m. (normally $4)
July 17 to Sept. 4 only: Rubin Museum of Art - Free entry from 11 a.m. to noon (normally $10)
(Editor’s note: If you wish to republish a portion of this list, please use no more than one day and link back to this post, which NewYorkology.com will update as museums modify their hours, prices and policies.)
All listed prices are the regular adult admission rates. Free hours are sometimes prohibited for big tour groups; please contact the museums for their policies.
Some museums close between exhibitions and the Society of Illustrators closes during August.
Since the prior free-museum hours list was overhauled in November 2010, the following closings and price changes have taken place:
Admission at the Morgan Library & Museum went up to $15 from $12 but it added Tuesday and Sunday free hours to the historic McKim rooms.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s regular adult admission climbed to $10 from $8.
The New York Aquarium raised its admission to $14.95 from $13.
The Children’s Museum of Manhattan raised admission to $11 from $10.
The Museum of American Finance ended its free hours.
El Museo del Barrio added free Wednesday night hours but now ends it free Third Saturday programs earlier in the evenings.
In debt, the Folk Art Museum sold its big 53rd Street building and moved into the smaller, but always free, location at 2 Lincoln Square.
The status of the mostly closed Seaport Museum remains uncertain.
The New-York Historical Society is closed until Nov. 11, 2011 due to renovations, except for the free “Remembering 9/11” exhibition opening early on Sept. 7, 2011.
The Japan Society galleries are closed until Sept. 16.
Related: Links to the official websites for New York City museums
Update as of July 29: Added the Museum of Biblical Art’s free Sunday hours.
Update as of Aug 12: Noted the increase in regular admission at the Museum of the Moving Image to $12 from $10.
Update as of Sept. 30: Added Museum of Arts & Design’s new Friday pay-what-you-wish hours; noted MoMA’s regular admission hike to $25 from $20; updated NY Aquarium’s early closing time for fall; and reinstated Asia Society’s free late Fridays for fall.
Update as of Oct. 13: Added free Friday hours at Historic Richmond Town, which started Oct. 1.
Update as of Oct. 26: Noted that NYBG grounds-only access went up to $10 from $6.
Update as of Nov. 11: New-York Historical Society reopened after renovations and resumed Friday pay-as-you-like hours; MoMA’s free hours now end at 8 rather than 8:30 p.m.; New York Aquarium’s free hours end at 4:30 p.m. during the winter.
Update as of Nov. 12: NY Botanical Garden’s Saturday free hours were cut back by an hour, and the listing for the Hall of Science free weekend hours were moved to Sunday from Saturday.
Update as of Nov. 17: Updated the list with Queens Botanical Garden’s winter hours: free all day Tuesdays through Sundays (instead of only Wednesdays and Sundays during summer and early fall.) Added Brooklyn Botanic’s free Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for winter hours. Added the price of NY Botanical’s one-day all-garden pass: $20.
Update as of Dec. 2: Noted that regular general admission at the New Museum increased to $16 from $12, and the Neue Galerie went up to $20 from $15.
Update as of Dec. 28: el Museo del Barrio’s free Wednesday night hours were removed from the list.
Image source: Brooklyn Museum’s work of Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917). Pierre de Wiessant, Monumental Nude (Pierre de Wissant, nu monumental), 1886, cast 1983. Bronze, 78 1/4 × 44 3/4 × 36 1/2 in. (198.8 × 113.7 × 92.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the B. Gerald Cantor Collection, 86.310
July 27, 2011 3:38 PM in Cheap Stuff, Downtown, Midtown, Museums, Out of Manhattan, Upper East Side, Upper West Side
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