Met Museum's New $25 Admission Policy Gets Mixed Reviews
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's pay-what-you-wish-but-you-must-pay-something admissions policy is now over. Adults who are not from New York, New Jersey or Connecticut (and who aren't students, seniors or children under 12) must pay the full $25 ticket price.
"It's a lot of money for a museum, I get, it's famous art," said Brianna Tasset, visiting from Austin, Texas, who was sitting on the steps. "But I'm just very poor." She had thought she'd take a look around, but wound up changing her mind when she learned how much she would have to pay.
Last year, the Met had nearly 7 million visitors. Thirty percent came from New York City, 30 percent from elsewhere in the U.S., and 40 percent were visiting from abroad. The new fee is expected to contribute between $6 and $11 million a year to the Met's overall annual budget of $305 million.
The percentage of visitors that were paying the full suggested $25 ticket price has dropped by 73 percent in the last 13 years, museum officials said.
The $25 ticket includes admission at all three of the Met's museums and is good for three consecutive days.
Some don't mind ponying up the extra cash.
"It's my first time here so we wanted to do all the big things," said Rebecca Linehan, visiting from New Hampshire. "I want to support art."
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