Shiloh in the City

Let me start off by saying that museums are cultural institutions that are worthy of our money. But this is New York and for some of us, after rent and MetroCards, there isn’t a lot of money to go around. Does that mean that going to museums can’t be a poor man’s pastime? Not at all! Several of the NYC’s museums have free days or pay-what-you-wish/ suggested donation policies. And some museums are always free! Below I’ve compiled a list of as many free museums in NYC I could find so you won’t have to scour the internet the next time you’re in the mood to stop by a museum.

Always Free (or Pay What You Wish or Suggested Donation)

African Burial Ground Memorial Site
American Folk Art Museum
American Museum of Natural History (PWYW)
Bronx Museum of the Arts
Brooklyn Historical Society (Suggested)
Brooklyn Museum (PWYW)
Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92
Castle Clinton National Monument
Dyckman Farmhouse Museum (PWYW)
El Museo Del Barrio (Suggested)
Federal Hall National Memorial
General Grant National Memorial
Hamilton Grange National Memorial
Harbor Defense Museum
International Print Center
King Manor Museum (Suggested)
Lefferts Historic House (Suggested)
Metropolitan Museum of Art (for NYS residents)
Mmuseumm (Suggested)
Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology
Museum of Street Art
Museum of the American Indian — Smithsonian Institute
Museum of the City of New York (PWYW)
Nicholas Roerich Museum 
Queens Museum (PWYW)
Scandinavia House
Staten Island Museum (PWYW)
The Met Cloisters (PWYW)
The Houdini Museum of New York
The Paley Center for Media (PWYW)
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace
Tibet House
Wyckoff House Museum (Suggested)

Museums with Free Days/ Hours

Mondays*

The Musuem at Eldridge Street
*Unfortunately, most museums are closed on Mondays.

Tuesdays

9/11 Memorial and Museum (from 5pm – 9pm)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden (from December through February)
Society of Illustrators (from 5pm – 8pm)
Morgan Library (from 3pm – 5pm)
Wave Hill (9am – 12pm)

Wednesdays

Historic Richmond Town (Suggested donation)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden (from December through February)
New York Botanical Garden
The Frick Collection (from 2pm – 6pm, PWYW)
Van Cortlandt House Museum

Thursdays

Brooklyn Botanic Garden (from December through February)
China Institute
Museum of Arts and Design (from 6pm – 9pm)

Fridays

Brooklyn Botanic Garden (from December through February; from 8am – 12pm the rest of the year)
Museum of Modern Art (4pm – 8pm)
Museum of the Moving Image (4pm – 8pm)
New-York Historical Society (6pm – 8pm)
Rubin Museum of Art (6pm – 10pm)
The Morgan Library and Museum (7pm – 9pm)
Whitney Museum of American Art (7pm – 9:30pm)

Saturdays

Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum (6pm – 9pm, PWYW)
Guggenheim Museum (5pm – 8pm)
Wave Hill (9am – 12pm)

Sundays

Morgan Library (4pm – 6pm)

Know of any other free museums in NYC I can add to the list? Let me know in the comments.