An attorney suing the Metropolitan Museum of Art over its admissions policy blasted Mayor Bloomberg on Thursday for ceding control over entrance fees to the Fifth Avenue institution without any public approval process.
“It’s deeply disturbing that this happened in the dead of the night, in the waning hours of an outgoing mayoral administration, without notice to the public and without regard to the democratic process,” attorney Michael Hiller railed.
Five people are suing the museum, claiming they were pressured by staffers into paying a $25 admission fee. The Met argues that the charge is merely a suggested donation.
The city and the museum teamed up to try and put the controversy to bed.
On Thursday, the museum released a signed amendment to an 1878 lease that authorizes the institution — which sits rent-free on prime public Central Park land and receives generous taxpayer subsidies — “to consider a range of admission modifications in future years, subject as in the past to review and approval by the city.”
The original, handwritten agreement states that the galleries “be kept open and accessible to the public free of charge from 10 o’clock until half an hour before sunset” Wednesday through Saturday.
The museum director explained that the change was necessary because he is “faced with perennial uncertainties about future funding sources, the Met and the City concluded that it makes sense now to consecrate our longstanding and wholly legal admissions policies.”
In a statement, Met Director Thomas Campbell added, “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.”
Hiller said the development doesn’t alter his legal course.
“It does, however, speak volumes about the extent to which the museum is concerned about our lawsuit.”
A spokeswoman for the city did not return messages for comment.