Met Museum Is Set To Bring Underserved Groups For VIP Tours

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The Metropolitan Museum of Art has historically been known for its openness to New Yorkers, epitomized by its (still) pay-as-you-wish model for New York residents.

But still, many communities of New Yorkers have never walked up the Met's 60 steps and spent time gazing at the Temple of Dendur, admiring the gentle strokes of Vermeer, or studying the numerous intricate sets of Japanese Samurai armor.

Maybe the crowds and scale of the place feel intimidating. For others, maybe it's hard to get to Fifth Avenue — or to find the time.

Regardless of the reason, a new initiative, spearheaded by the museum's government affairs team, is trying to change that.

“There can be no Met without New York, so it is imperative that everyone across all five boroughs feel welcomed at the Museum,” said Natalie Omary, the associate manager of the government affairs team.

With the storied museum still shuttered on Wednesdays, the team decided to pick one Wednesday a month and bring in groups of New Yorkers historically underserved by the institution to provide private, VIP tours in a nearly empty museum.

In the second of such tours this year, a group of K-12 kids from the Bronx came to spend an afternoon in the extra quiet and unusually empty spaces as a museum curator guided them through the extensive collections. Earlier this year, the museum welcomed a group of students and faculty from CUNY for a similar private tour sure to spark unforgettable memories.

“A New Yorker’s relationship with The Met lasts a lifetime – and there are few better ways of serving the city than to have the next generation from the Bronx take in the Museum, and hopefully come back again and again” said Kenneth Weine, the museum's senior vice president for external affairs.

Working closely with institutions like the Manhattan and Bronx Borough Presidents, NYCHA and CUNY, as well as a wide array of community groups, like South Bronx United, Bridge Builders, PS 70x, Destination Tomorrow and more, the Met is planning on introducing all sorts of new people to the world inside its walls.

Future plans are in the works to bring NYCHA seniors, more public school groups and other neighbors to help make the museum's offerings more accessible to a broader visitor base who might have avoided the institution in the past.