Free Museum Days in NYC
Are you looking for free museum days in NYC?
New York City is home to many world-class museums. Unfortunately, many of these museums charge a pretty steep admission fee. There might be discounts available for students or seniors or other groups, but if you have to pay full price, you could be looking at a ticket cost of up to $30 to visit a museum!
I’m not a fan of paying for museums, and as a New Yorker, I’m always trying to visit museums on days they offer free (or pay-what-you-wish) admission. And I’ve put together a big list of them below!
There are some museums that always offer free or pay-what-you-wish admission. With pay-what-you-wish, you have to pay some amount, but it can be as little as $1 so it’s almost free.
Other museums offer free or pay-what-you-wish admission on select days of the week or month, sometimes during specific hours. For some of the more popular museums, you might need to reserve your free tickets online in advance because a limited quantity is available and they often sell out.
Note: These free days are subject to change at any time. I try to keep this guide updated, but please double-check all museum hours and free days with the official museum website before planning your visit.
If you do end up needing to purchase tickets for a museum, I recommend checking GetYourGuide to see if you can buy your tickets there (with most museums in NYC, you can.) I like GetYourGuide because it gives you more flexibility than buying a ticket directly from the museum. With GetYourGuide bookings, you can change your dates or cancel your booking enitrely for a full refund up to 24 hours in advance.
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Now here’s a look at all the best free museum days in NYC you should know about:
Free for New Yorkers
The following museums offer free or pay-what-you-wish admission for New Yorkers. While this will not apply if you’re visiting NYC, it’s a great deal for locals who want to access these museums.
If you have a local friend, they can also bring you along for free to some of these museums:
- Metropolitan Museum of Art: Pay-what-you-wish for all New York residents and their guests (and pay-what-you-wish admission for students from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut)
- The Met Cloisters: Pay-what-you-wish for all New York residents and their guests (and pay-what-you-wish admission for students from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut)
- American Museum of Natural History: Pay-what-you-wish for all New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut residents (this applies to the main museum only and not special collections)
- Museum of the City of New York: Pay-what-you-wish for all New York residents
- Museum of Modern Art: Free admission for NYC residents on the first Friday of each month from 4 PM until 8 PM (must reserve tickets online beginning one week in advance)
- 9/11 Memorial & Museum: Free admission for NYC residents on the first Monday of each month from 5:30 PM until 7 PM (must reserve tickets online beginning one month in advance)
Always Free
These museums offer free admission daily, and they are free to everyone.
- American Folk Art Museum
- The Museum at FIT
- New York Public Library: Not exactly a museum, but the flagship building of the library is open to visitors and it does have a fascinating exhibition hall that is well worth a visit
- National Museum of the American Indian
- Socrates Sculpture Park
- Queens County Farm Museum
- The Bronx Museum
Of these, the one I’d recommend the most is the New York Public Library. The exhibition at the library is always changing and it shows some of the most impressive literary artifacts from their collection.
Always Pay-What-You-Wish
These museums offer pay-what-you-wish admission every day. There might be a suggested donation amount, but it’s up to you how much you pay, and you can choose to pay only $1 if you want.
Note that you might need to buy tickets in person at the museum if you aren’t able to get the pay-what-you-wish price online. These museums usually aren’t too busy, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
- Cooper Hewitt: Pay-what-you-wish daily from 5 PM until 6 PM
- El Museo del Barrio
- Brooklyn Museum
- MoMA PS1
- Queens Museum
- Staten Island Museum
Weekly Free Days
The following museums offer weekly free days or pay-what-you-wish days during specific hours. Remember, you might need to book your free tickets in advance so be sure to check online.
- Museum of the City of New York: Free admission every Wednesday
- Bronx Zoo: Not exactly a museum, but free admission every Wednesday
- New York Aquarium: Also not a museum, but free admission every Wednesday after 3 PM
- The Frick Collection: Pay-what-you-wish every Wednesday from 2 PM until 6 PM
- Museum of the Moving Image: Free admission every Thursday from 2 PM until 6 PM
- Morgan Library & Museum: Free admission every Friday from 5 PM until 7 PM (and free admission to the historic rooms on Tuesday and Sundays from 3 PM until 5 PM)
- New-York Historical Society: Free admission every Friday from 5 PM until 8 PM
- Whitney Museum of American Art: Free admission every Friday from 5 PM until 10 PM
- Asia Society Museum: Free admission every Friday
- Guggenheim Museum: Pay-what-you-wish every Monday and Saturday from 4 PM until 5:30 PM
- Jewish Museum: Free admission every Saturday
- Wave Hill Public Garden & Cultural Center: Free admission every Thursday
My top recommendations from this list would be the Guggenheim, the Morgan Library & Museum, and the Whitney. All of these museums have a great atmosphere during their free evenings. You’ll definitely want to reserve tickets online in advance for these museums, because their free days are quite popular.
Monthly Free Days
These museums offer monthly free days. While these free days are less frequent and might not work out with your dates if you’re just visiting NYC for a short time, these can be good for locals.
- Neue Galerie: Free admission on the first Friday of each month from 5 PM until 8 PM
- The Noguchi Museum: Free admission of the first Friday of each month
- Whitney Museum of American Art: Free admission on the second Sunday of each month (also offers free weekly admission on Friday evenings from 5 PM until 10 PM)
The Neue Galerie is a hidden gem that I would highly recommend! However, their free admission day is very popular, so I recommend arriving early to get in line since you can’t get tickets in advance.
Seasonal Free Days
These museums offer seasonal free or pay-what-you-wish days.
- Brooklyn Botanic Garden: Pay-what-you-wish on weekdays from December through February (but note that some areas may be inaccessible due to the winter light installations)
- Intrepid Museum: Free admission on select Fridays during the summer
NYC Museum Free Days
This guide showed you all the best free museum days in NYC.
New York is home to so many incredible museums, whether you’re interested in art, history, culture, or something else. And visiting these museums doesn’t have to cost you a lot of money.
Thanks to free and pay-what-you-wish admission, you can visit the best museums in NYC for nothing, or just $1. It’s definitely worth checking out some of these museums when you’re in New York.
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