Getting into New York Museums For Free

Jun 17, 2016 / Photography / artist dates / museums

If you plan your visit to New York City to coincide on the first Friday and first weekend of any month, you can get into a lot of museums for free.

Arriving Friday afternoon in New York, I was delighted to realize that

• MoMA is free Friday nights starting from around 5:30pm
• Neue Gallery on 5th avenue/86th street is free from 6-8pm

I went MoMA first. It was a mob inside, but it was great. I spent about 45 minutes at the MoMA before hopping on a subway to go to the Neue Gallery. The line up here was not as long, but because the venue is smaller, I waited in line for 1.5 hours to get in. It was still worth it though, as I got to see Munch and Expressionism exhibition that is currently on. Pictures were only allowed in the foyer. They have a beautiful staircase leading up to the exhibition spaces.

The next day, I went to the Whitney. I hadn’t been to the new building since it opened, so I was looking forward to it.

Whitney is free (or technically, pay as you wish) Friday nights from 7-9:30pm, so I was fully prepared to pay admission. As I hand over my Bank of America credit card to pay, the cashier said, “Oh, for Bank of America customers, admission is free the first Saturday of every month.”

Isn’t that great? I saved $63 dollars overall with the three museums. It was like the perfect storm. I happened to be in New York on a Friday evening, and it was the first weekend of the month, and I happened to have a Bank of America credit card!

You can find out what times New York museums are free by clicking here.