Guides
When the Met is free, and what admission actually costs in 2026
The Metropolitan Museum of Art charges $30 general admission but remains pay-what-you-wish for New York State residents and tri-state students, per the museum's current policy.
Guides: Practical How-Tos
Routing for a day of looking: gallery walks through Chelsea and Tribeca, down to the Lower East Side, then across to Bushwick, with reliable hours, nearest subway stops, free admission windows and a sensible order. Written for visitors and residents planning an afternoon on foot.
Guides
How public art gets commissioned in New York, from percent-for-art to the subway
New York's public art runs through three channels — the city's Percent for Art law, the Public Design Commission, and MTA Arts & Design — each with its own budget rule and vetting process.
Guides
New York's major art museums offer several routes around full-price admission
The Met, MoMA, MoMA PS1 and the Whitney each waive or reduce their standard ticket price under specific conditions, from residency-based pay-what-you-wish rates to a museum that has gone fully free.
Guides
Gallery etiquette for first-timers
New York's commercial galleries are free, unstaffed by ticket desks and quietly rule-governed; a first-timer's guide to entering, asking prices, bags, photography and leaving without buying.
Guides
How to visit the Brooklyn Museum
A visiting guide to the Brooklyn Museum: the Egyptian galleries, Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party, the 2 and 3 trains from Manhattan and the First Saturdays evening series.
Guides
First visit to MoMA
A first-visit guide to the Museum of Modern Art: which floor to start on, how the 2019 expansion arranged the collection and when the sculpture garden is empty.
Guides
First visit to the Whitney Museum
A first-visit guide to the Whitney Museum of American Art: how the Gansevoort Street building's floors and terraces are arranged, where the Hudson lookouts are and how to fold in the High Line.
Guides
How to see the Met in one visit
The Metropolitan Museum of Art cannot be seen in a day; a route built on four departments — Egyptian, European paintings, the American Wing and the Greek and Roman galleries — makes one visit cohere.
Guides
How to walk Museum Mile in a day
Seven museums line Fifth Avenue from 82nd to 104th Street; a realistic one-day plan pairs two or three of them, moving north from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Guides
A Bushwick art walk in one day
A practical guide to Bushwick's studio buildings, small galleries and open-air murals — how the L train shapes the walk, when spaces open and where to pause.