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Prepared for Bumps, the Met Starts Charging Non-New Yorkers

nytimes.com

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Re: Prepared for Bumps, the Met Starts Charging Non-New Yorkers

#11

Post by mortenjorck »

aeling wrote: post #7
fredophile wrote: post #6

I've visited this museum on past trips to New York but will now be less likely to do so. In the past I've gone in, paid $5-10 and spent 1-3 hours at the museum before moving on. It's a really big museum so I'd do this multiple times in a trip. Paying $25 I'd feel like I have to put everything I want to see into a single, longer visit. That's a lot less interesting to me than breaking it into several smaller visits ov…

The $25 admission gets you in for 3 consecutive days, which seems like it should still (mostly) support your way of using the museum?

This is an under-communicated point, and both makes the admission more palatable while subtly increasing the sense of value through the implication that you'll need multiple days to actually take in the breadth of the institution's collections.

Re: Prepared for Bumps, the Met Starts Charging Non-New Yorkers

#13

Post by JBReefer »

There is a lot to be said about seeing great art in a less crowded context. One of the best days of my life was when I went to Member Only Hours at MoMA, and I walked alone, in silence.

I live near the Met, and too many tour buses show up, discharge huge groups of people who hustle and shove from one famous piece to the other - ignoring the art that isn't in text books. It's not a checklist, it's a really incredible place. All people should be entitled to see "Self Portrait with Straw Hat" but man, maybe they should look at the pieces next to in, instead of running downstairs to check off the next box.

In my opinion, this will be a good thing - fundamentally, the land belongs to the people of the city of New York, and the free rent for that much acreage of Central Park on Fifth Avenue is an incalculable subsidy. It should at least _try_ to be more pleasant for the citizens of the city.

Re: Prepared for Bumps, the Met Starts Charging Non-New Yorkers

#14

Post by bradleyjg »

I don't have a problem with the general concept. Tourists spend a lot of money coming to visit NYC in no small part because of attractions like the Met. Why should the airlines, hotels, restaurants, bars and so on get some of that but not the actual attraction itself?

That said, as I understand significant mismanagement and scope creep have lead to the financial shortfall that inspired this pricing change. I worry that in signing off on this change the city has rewarded misfeasiance.

Re: Prepared for Bumps, the Met Starts Charging Non-New Yorkers

#15

Post by bluetwo »

beezle wrote: post #3

25 bucks is pretty rich for just kicking around in a museum for a little while. Understand they need more funding but think they would do better with a lower price that doesn't result in turn aways (or never shows). And certainly taking a $20 out of your wallet just hurts less psychologically than having to fish out another bill as well.

This is what price discovery looks like. If it doesn't pan out the way they want, I'm sure they will adjust in a year.

Re: Prepared for Bumps, the Met Starts Charging Non-New Yorkers

#16

Post by ghaff »

The "voluntary" admission never felt all that voluntary to me. Sure. You could say no when you got to the cashier. But it always felt to me at least that there was a strong vibe of you really ought to pay this amount unless you really can't afford to.

It's certainly a different character from the museums in London, for example, that just have their big donation buckets.

With the Met, this actually more honest than it was before.

Re: Prepared for Bumps, the Met Starts Charging Non-New Yorkers

#17

Post by fredophile »

aeling wrote: post #7
fredophile wrote: post #6

I've visited this museum on past trips to New York but will now be less likely to do so. In the past I've gone in, paid $5-10 and spent 1-3 hours at the museum before moving on. It's a really big museum so I'd do this multiple times in a trip. Paying $25 I'd feel like I have to put everything I want to see into a single, longer visit. That's a lot less interesting to me than breaking it into several smaller visits ov…

The $25 admission gets you in for 3 consecutive days, which seems like it should still (mostly) support your way of using the museum?

I was unaware of that. If I can spread my museum time over three days then I would definitely be willing to spend the $25.

Re: Prepared for Bumps, the Met Starts Charging Non-New Yorkers

#18

Post by greglindahl »

drb91 wrote: post #10
beezle wrote: post #3

25 bucks is pretty rich for just kicking around in a museum for a little while. Understand they need more funding but think they would do better with a lower price that doesn't result in turn aways (or never shows). And certainly taking a $20 out of your wallet just hurts less psychologically than having to fish out another bill as well.

"The Met" isn't just any old museum, it's a main reason to visit new york. I'd pay $100 for an entire day there (or three days, as it is now!). You simply can't see that quality of museum in many parts of the country, let alone the world.

In the past, they would happily have taken your $100 donation. I suspect that's still true.

Re: Prepared for Bumps, the Met Starts Charging Non-New Yorkers

#19

Post by drb91 »

greglindahl wrote: post #18
drb91 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The Met" isn't just any old museum, it's a main reason to visit new york. I'd pay $100 for an entire day there (or three days, as it is now!). You simply can't see that quality of museum in many parts of the country, let alone the world.

In the past, they would happily have taken your $100 donation. I suspect that's still true.

Sure! Not my point though--just scoffing at the idea that $25 is at all too high for the experience.

I would also strongly support a sliding scale, though how that would work I have no idea.

Re: Prepared for Bumps, the Met Starts Charging Non-New Yorkers

#20

Post by ghaff »

JeanMarcS wrote: post #4

This is a great museum, and the price is not that high. My family and I were in NYC in December. We visited the American Museum of Natural History, which have the same policy of "pay what you want". We were there at the opening, because, as the Met, it's a pretty big museum and you (really) need the day if you want to make a full tour of it. We then had 2 solutions. Waiting who know how long behind around 30-40 perso…

$25 is on the higher side for admissions in the US but, as others have noted, the Met is both huge and outstanding. $10-$20 is probably the more common museum admission range. [ADDED: NYC is probably higher in general than in other cities.]
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