Five people suing the Metropolitan Museum of Art, claiming they were strong-armed into paying for admission, say they have a “smoking gun” 1975 letter from the city proving that entry should be free.
“We have been receiving letters to this agency and from the Mayor’s Office concerning the wording of your signs asking for donations from those who enter the museum,” then-Parks Commissioner Edwin Weisl wrote.
“Some claim that the signs read that ‘You Must Contribute Something’ in order to get in,” he wrote. “Perhaps the signs could make it a bit more clear that contributions are voluntary.”
In reply, then-Met head Thomas Hoving apologized for the “misunderstanding,” but claimed it had been the museum’s policy since 1970 for guests to pay at least a penny, and said the city had approved that.
Hoving acknowledged that the original rent-free lease was never amended to formally sanction the fee plan, but said that communication among city officials was sufficient approval.
The letter is “smoking-gun evidence that the city specifically and unmistakably rejected the pay-as-you-wish-but-you-must-pay-something program as soon as the city found about it,” said Michael Hiller, who is suing the Met on behalf of the museum-goers.
He claims the letter is the last word on the issue in city archives.
“The Weisl letter is the seminal event establishing city policy, as communicated through a senior public official, that . . . entry into the museum must be free and any contributions received must be entirely voluntary,” Hiller added.
He plans to use the letter to defeat an attempt by the Met to toss the suit when the two sides go before a Manhattan judge Sept. 24.
Museum spokesman Harold Holzer downplayed the correspondence, calling Hiller’s focus on the letters “historical nitpicking.”
“These are two isolated, snapshot examples among hundreds of archives that trace the creation of the pay-what-you-wish admission policy at the Met,” Holzer said. “Of course, discussions were held and suggestions made along the way. That’s why we have a fair policy now — a policy fully vetted and consistently approved by a succession of city administrations.”
The museum — which pays no rent for its city space — is fending off two multimillion-dollar lawsuits claiming that the Fifth Avenue institution deceives visitors into paying a $25 entrance fee, when the price is merely a suggested donation.