Viewing art comes with a price tag now. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will increase its entry fee starting from July 1. This falls under the most expensive museum in the city category. The museum is home to millions of antique and rare artefacts.
For adults, they have to pay $30 (Rs 2368.52 approx), elder citizens will have to pay $22 (Rs 1, approx.) whereas students have to pay $17 (Rs 1,342). The tickets have increased by a total of $5 (Rs 394 approx.). New York state residents and students who live in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut can choose the option of ‘pay as you wish’. People with the NYC ID program can get free museum membership and other cultural perks whereas New York City Public Library cardholders can get free museum passes for guests and themselves.
As per a report, a museum spokesperson said,” The Museum is always seeking a balance between ensuring that we are providing as wide access as possible, and generating critical support for our programming. We think… having a modest increase for out-of-state and international visitors, for the first time in 11 years, is fair and appropriate.”
The last increase in the fare was observed in 2011 when the prices for entry for adults increased from $20 to $25. At present MET, is the most expensive museum in the city compared to other museums like 9/11 Memorial Museum ($26), the Guggenheim Museum ($25), the Museum of Modern Art ($25), the Whitney Museum of American Art ($25) to name a few.
MET’s ‘pay as you wish’ policy extended to all the visitors across the countries until 2018. In March, the policy was brought down and applied to just state residents and students who lived in the tri-state area.
