NEWS: MoMA Will Remain Open Until 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays Through Year End

Throughout this summer, as it has in recent years, the Museum of Modern Art in New York has been remaining open until 9 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Today it shared the beautiful news that it will keep those extended hours for Friday and Saturday through the end of 2017, marking a shift from its typical practice of reverting to standard hours after Labor Day, when it is open only until 8 p.m. on Fridays and 5:30 p.m. (its standard closing time) on Saturdays. These new hours align with those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which regularly remains open until 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

It should be noted, then, that the hours of free admission at MoMA will be 4 to 9 p.m. on Fridays through the final Friday of this year, December 29.

Many museums in the United States lag painfully behind their international peers in offering evening hours. To name a few generous examples, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris is open until midnight six nights a week, the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo is open until 10 p.m. six nights a week (and 5 p.m. on the other day), and the Tate Modern remains open until 10 p.m. twice a week. Read More