New York’s Museumgoers Make One Last Visit Before Next Wave
New Yorkers take in their favorite museums as rising COVID-19 rates threaten to close them down once more.
When the Metropolitan Museum of Art reopened on Aug. 29, museumgoers were reminded of a pre-COVID-19 New York, albeit with timed entry and social distancing guidelines. Now, New Yorkers are taking in their favorite museums once more amid the looming threat of a second lockdown.
New York City is home to more than 200 museums, including three of the top ten most-visited museums in the world: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of Modern Art. Combined, these three museums take in more than 15 million visitors each year.
By the time museums reopened this fall, however, they were in dire financial straits. The Met lost $150 million and laid off 20% of its staff during the shutdown, while the Brooklyn Museum lost $19 million and began to sell its art at Christie’s and Sotheby’s to make ends meet.
For the past month, New York has reported more than 1,000 new cases of Covid-19 a day, a rate unseen since last May. And, of greater concern, hospitalizations are also on the rise. Although Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo have not yet told New Yorkers to shelter-in-place, some museumgoers feel pressure to get in one last visit in case they end up stuck in their homes this winter.
Met visitor Susan Schier stood in the vast Beaux Arts lobby on the afternoon of Nov. 15, visiting what she called “a jewel in New York.” Before the pandemic hit, she was a frequent theatregoer, so having New York’s museums reopen was “unbelievably fabulous.” But, she worries about what might happen if the city goes on lockdown again.
“People are not following the CDC guidelines,” she said. “If they were, places like this could stay open.”
Another Met visitor, Nina Hasenstein, feels the same way. “I’m worried we’ll enter a more severe lockdown,” she said. “A lot of institutions have done great with virtual exhibitions, but there’s nothing like seeing it in person. I’m here to see it again in person before it closes.”
Over in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights neighborhood, Emily Stubbs and Juliet Martin were visiting the Brooklyn Museum for the first time since it reopened on Sep. 12. “Museums are a great social activity,” Juliet said. “You get to catch up with a friend and go someplace that stimulates conversation. I can come here, I can look at the art, I don’t have to think about the problems of the world. It’s a really good escape.”
“With COVID, you can’t really take advantage of all the cultural events, like live shows and museums, that make New York ‘New York,’” Juliet added. “Staying home and watching Netflix just doesn’t cut it.”
Emily, who is good friends with Juliet, said she worries about a second lockdown, and the impact of being isolated “without an opportunity to see our friends and family and interact with our cultural institutions that are a touchstone of living in the city. Having them back again is a lifesaver.”
Like Emily, museumgoer Vivan Eng worries about the isolation that would come with a second lockdown. “I’ll miss the lack of stimuli that comes with having a city I’m free to walk around in,” she said. She has been working remotely all year, and came to the Brooklyn Museum to “see it before it’s too late.”
One visitor seemed unperturbed by the notion of a second lockdown. Kafui Akakpo, from Brooklyn, was happy to spend the day at the Brooklyn Museum, but didn’t worry about what would happen if it closed its doors again.
“If it has to happen, then it has to happen,” they said. “I think we will do what we need to in order to contain it.”
Bio: Jeremy Fassler is a student at Columbia Journalism School. Bylines: The Daily Banter (staff writer), New York Magazine, Rogerebert.com, Bklyner. Was on Jeopardy! once and led the whole game only to lose because Final Jeopardy was insanely hard. He/him/his
