Met Museum Prepares for $100 Million Loss and Closure Till July
THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Robin Pogrebin
In a powerful sign that casualties of the coronavirus outbreak include even the country’s strongest cultural institutions, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is projecting a total shortfall of close to $100 million for the near future and expects to be closed until July, according to a letter the museum sent to its department heads on Wednesday. If even a behemoth like the Met — with an operating budget of $320 million and an endowment of $3.6 billion — is anticipating such a steep financial hit, smaller institutions may not be able to survive at all. [More]
The museum made these plans based on information it has received from “the epidemiological world,” Daniel H. Weiss, the president and chief executive said — namely, that the pandemic is likely to reach its peak in early May, so recovery is unlikely to begin until at least the middle of June.
By Robin Pogrebin
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| Visitors outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art last Thursday, right before it closed to the public. Its target date for reopening now seems likely to be July. |
The museum made these plans based on information it has received from “the epidemiological world,” Daniel H. Weiss, the president and chief executive said — namely, that the pandemic is likely to reach its peak in early May, so recovery is unlikely to begin until at least the middle of June.
- The Met, preparing for its own financial hardship, has developed a three-phase response:
- having all staff members work from home and continue to be paid through April 4 as the museum evaluates possible furloughs, layoffs and voluntary retirements;
- from April to July, evaluating how to control spending and reduce operating costs, including freezing discretionary expenditures and hiring;
- and from July to October, “reopening with a reduced program and lower cost structure that anticipates lower attendance for at least the next year due to reduced global and domestic tourism and spending,” according to the letter.
