One of the best things about living in New York City is the abundance of museums. Or at least that’s what I hear…
What with trying to pull kids away from tidying their rooms (ha!) and attempting to lure myself away from my pillow, it’s tough to get the entire family out the door before closing time. And with steep admission prices, well, you’ve put the final nail in the cultural coffin.
But there is a way to get your intellectual fill without breaking the bank.
Just about every museum in the city has dedicated hours each week or month during which they don’t charge admission—or at least they let you decide what you’d like to pay. Not having to plunk down plastic allows you a taste of what a certain museum has to offer without feeling guilty when the kids let you know that Mesopotamian coins aren’t really their cup of chai after only 20 minutes of checking out an exhibit.
In the past, my husband and I have scheduled date nights around free/cheaper times at The Morgan Library & Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the International Center of Photography—all during their Friday night special rates. I’ve also planned school vacation days at the Museum of American Finance, the New York Hall of Science, and the Museum of Chinese in America.
I even list museums and their free times in my iPhone calendar so that when I find myself in a new area of town with nothing to do and a free museum nearby…well, you get the idea.
Here are some of my family’s favorite museums:
All-time favorites
Brooklyn Children’s Museum: Free on third Thursday of the month from 4-7pm; the first full weekend of the month from 2-5pm. ($9 per person, children under 1 free). brooklynkids.org
Children’s Museum of the Arts: Pay what you wish on Thursday afternoons from 4-6pm (otherwise $11 for anyone over age of 1). cmany.org
Children’s Museum of Manhattan: Free on the first Friday of the month ($11 children and adults, $7 seniors). cmom.org
Museum of the Moving Image: Free on Fridays from 4-8pm ($12 adults, $9 seniors and students, $6 children 3-12). movingimage.us
New York Aquarium: Pay what you wish on Fridays from 3-4:30pm ($9.95 ages 3 & up). nyaquarium.com
Prove money doesn’t grow on trees
The New York Federal Reserve offers six free 45-minute guided tours each week day. Visitors can learn about monetary policy (always a crowd pleaser!) as well as see a vault with the largest known supply of gold in the world. (Free hourly self-guided tours don’t allow access to see the shiny stuff.) Click here for reservations.
Where to air out the children
Brooklyn Botanic Garden: Free all day Tuesdays as well as Saturday mornings from 10am-12pm ($10 for adults, $5 seniors and students; free for kids 11 and under. bbg.org
Queens Botanical Garden: Free Wednesday from 3-6pm, Sunday from 4-6pm ($4 adults, $3 seniors and $2 for children 3-12). queensbotanical.org
Wave Hill: Free Saturdays year round from 9am-12pm and select Tuesdays ($8 adults, $4 children and seniors, $2 children 6 and older). wavehill.org
Education masquerading as fun
Bronx Zoo: Pay as you wish on Wednesdays ($16.95 adults, $12.95 kids 3-12, $14.95 seniors). bronxzoo.com
New York Hall of Science in Queens: Free Fridays from 2-5pm and on Sundays from 10-11am ($11 adults, $8 kids, $8 seniors and students). nysci.org/
Sony Wonder Technology Lab: Free! sonywondertechlab.com
Staten Island Zoo: Free on Wednesdays after 2pm ($15 adults, $6 seniors, $5 children 3-14). statenislandzoo.org
Waterfront Museum in Red Hook—the historic Lehigh Valley Railroad Barge Number 79 museum. Free Thursdays from 4-8pm and Saturdays 1-5pm. (718-624-4719, waterfrontmuseum.org)
For kids considering a career change
Drawing Center: Free on Thursdays from 6-8pm ($5 adults, $3 seniors and students, children 11 and under free). Check out family art workshops. drawingcenter.org
Museum of American Finance: Free on Saturdays through the end of 2013. ($8 adults, $5 students and seniors $5. Tours are most appropriate for students older than 4th grade. Self-guided tours also available, with scavenger hunts appropriate for middle and high school students.) moaf.org
Museum of Arts & Design: Pay what you wish on Thursdays from 6-9pm. madmuseum.org
Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology: Free. fitnyc.edu
Society of Illustrators’ museum. Free. societyillustrators.org
Art & Culture
Brooklyn Museum: Free on the first Saturday of the month from 5-11pm except in September ($12 adult suggested donation, $8 students and seniors; free for children 11 and under with an adult). brooklynmuseum.org.
Bronx Museum of the Arts: Free. bronxmuseum.org
Morgan Library & Museum: Free on Fridays from 7-9pm ($15 adults, $10 children, seniors and students). themorgan.org
Museum of Modern Art: Free on Fridays from 4-8pm ($25 adults, $18 seniors, $14 students, free for children 16 and under). moma.org
Noguchi Museum: Pay what you wish on the first Friday of the month from 10am-5pm ($10 adults, $5 seniors and students, free to NYC public high school students with an ID). noguchi.org
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: Pay what you wish on Saturdays from 5:45-7:45pm ($22 adults, $18 students and seniors, free to children 12 and under). guggenheim.org
Staten Island Museum: Free on Thursdays from 6-9pm ($5 adults, $3 seniors and students, free to those 12 and under) statenislandmuseum.org
Studio Museum in Harlem: Free on Sundays from 12-6pm ($7 adults, $3 seniors and students, free under 12). studiomuseum.org
Whitney Museum of American Art: Free on Friday from 6-9pm ($20 general admission, $16 ages 19-25, 65 & older, full-time student, free for ages 18 and younger) whitney.org.
Check out this abbreviated list of free and pay-as-you-wish museums or this more detailed list of museums with suggested admissions, as well as links by the day they are free.
A business reporter who has written for The New York Times, TIME magazine, The Associated Press, Advertising Age and other publications, Hillary Chura now spends most of her time ferrying children to and from school, desperately wanting to nap, and tirelessly trying to parent for le$$ in New York City. She was reared in North Carolina and currently lives in on the Upper East Side with three boys—her husband and their two sons. Hillary gets most excited when she finds Southern prices in Manhattan stores.
