New York City’s Cultural Divide

On August 1st, the Metropolitan Museum of Art will raise its recommended admission fee to $20, making yet another vital public institution virtually off limits for millions of low-income New Yorkers. Ours is a city increasingly divided by race, income, and class — with a largely white affluent population and a largely African American and Latino low-income population. One factor that intensifies this divide is the ever-rising fees for the use of public amenities that have priced out many low-income families. The tax dollars of all city residents are being spent to support segregated amenities that only a few can afford.

This situation goes beyond dollars and cents. These fees promote a social separation that is unhealthy for the future well-being of the city.

Fee Hike Trend

The Met’s fee hike is the latest example in this disturbing trend - whereby the city’s most valuable, publicly supported assets are becoming less affordable and less accessible to low-income New Yorkers. In 2004, the Museum of Modern Art led the way in raising its mandatory general admission fee to $20. The Guggenheim Museum is now $18, and the American Museum of Natural History charges as much as $30 for a visit to all its attractions. While the Met’s fee is not mandatory, most visitors don’t know this, making the true cost of admission beyond the reach of low-income New Yorkers.

The increase in fees – often at public institutions that were formerly free to city residents – has hit hard at the city’s communities of color. The City University – a major educational institution for black and Latino New Yorkers - was once a model for affordable, high-quality urban education, offering free tuition to all city residents. Then, in the economic crisis of the 1970’s, CUNY started charging tuition, and the costs have continued to rise, denying many of our young people a quality higher education.

Recently, the city began charging membership fees at previously free public recreation facilities located in low-income neighborhoods. Residents are being charged as much as $75 for an annual membership to gain access to public health and fitness facilities.

Fees promote
a separation

The Community Service Society’s most recent survey of low-income New Yorkers revealed that 65 percent of poor working families have less than a $100 in savings in the bank. Most low-income renters use more than half of their monthly earnings just to pay the rent. Considering these figures, it is difficult to imagine two parents - who work all week at low wages - spending $40, or more, to visit the Met – or MoMA - for a few hours.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Cleveland Museum of Art are free. So are museums in Minneapolis, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Dayton, Des Moines, and Richmond, Virginia. The Baltimore Museum of Art just announced that it will no longer charge admission fees beginning October 1st.

The Met is the foremost museum in the country. It could take the lead among New York cultural institutions, making its collections freely accessible. Innovative tax policies and private endowments from corporations and individuals could reduce and eventually eliminate admission fees.

Free in Britain

In London, all of the major museums are free. Throughout the United Kingdom, most museums have been free to the public since 2001, when the government offered a program of tax rebates in exchange for eliminating entrance fees. In the first year of the program, attendance at British museums increased by an average of 69 percent.

Major New York cultural institutions like the Met are publicly funded, primarily through tax-deductible contributions and city tax dollars. The Met, like 33 other members of the city’s Cultural Institutions Group, operates on city-owned land and receives significant capital and operating support all in exchange for providing services that are accessible to the public - at a price.

Some museums in New York now offer free programs for low-income families, which should be expanded. Cool Culture, a Brooklyn program that receives funding from the city, offers a free admission card for low-income families. About 47,000 New Yorkers took part in the program last year. Other museums offer reduced fees or free admission during certain limited hours. These hours should be expanded and offered at times when working families are able to attend.

New Yorkers can take pride in the fact that our city is home to some of the finest cultural institutions in the world. Our museums are also a major contributor to the city’s economy, drawing millions of visitors each year from across the country and around the world. Yet while the city’s taxpayers support these cultural institutions, relatively few New Yorkers can afford to take advantage of them. We should not allow these institutions to be misused in ways that separate and segregate New Yorkers.

The result would be the creation of a two-tiered city, something that we seem to be moving toward with increasing rapidity.

From the New York Amsterdam News
July 27 – August 2, 2006