Metropolitan Museum of Art signs new amendment over admission fees

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is allowed to charge a recommended admission fee under a new amendment to its lease with the city.

In an announcement made Thursday, the Met said that at the city’s request, it has signed an amendment to its 1878 lease under which the museum is permitted to have a “a discretionary admission policy.”

The Met, which is the largest art museum in the nation, has come under criticism in recent months for its vague admission policy that allows visitors free entry but also lists a “recommended” fee of $25 for adults.

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Two recent lawsuits charge that the Met’s admission policies are difficult to understand and that it has been misleading the public. The Met has been charging recommended admission fees since 1971 under an agreement with the city. In 2011, the museum raised its recommended admission by $5 to $25.

It remains unclear how the museum’s new lease amendment will affect the outcome of the lawsuits. A lawyer representing plaintiffs in the case told the New York Times that “by no means are we conceding that this lease amendment is valid.”

The Met said on Thursday that the new amendment authorizes it to charge separate admission fees for special exhibitions and other programs. It is also allowed to consider a range of admission modifications in future years.

“It is important to make clear as we sign this amendment that we remain very much committed to maintaining -- and further widening -- public access to the museum,” Thomas P. Campbell, director and CEO of the Met, said in a statement.

The Met expanded its public hours to seven days a week in July.

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Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York hikes recommended admission to $25