Photo ID required for entrance?
Via Daily Mail:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is partially abandoning its ‘pay-what-you-wish’ admissions policy for a new approach that favors New Yorkers.
Starting March 1, the museum will charge a mandatory $25 entrance fee to most adult visitors who don’t live in New York state, the Met’s president and CEO, Daniel Weiss, said Thursday.
Admission cost will still be on a volunteer basis for individuals that live in the state.
The old way of doing things had made the Met a favorite egalitarian destination for generations of art lovers, even those who could barely afford a bus ticket into town.
But the museum, which has a $305 million operating budget, registered a shortfall of about $10 million in the 2017 fiscal year.
The policy change could potentially bring in enough extra money to bridge that gap in 2018.
Charging for those visiting from other states will raises an additional estimated $6 million to $11 million per year, and help bring long-term fiscal stability to the institution, Weiss said.