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Tourists, museum-goers and Gossip Girl-esque Upper East Siders...the Metropolitan Museum steps are no longer for you to sit on...at least, temporarily. CityRoom reports that the steps are undergoing a yearlong renovation, and until the project is done, the 1/3 of the steps left open are for walking only. Even tourists taking photos with the famous backdrop are getting booted.
How are people reacting to the change? Reportedly the museum staffers are quite busy shooing resting folks away all day -- some who oblige, some who do not. One visitor told CityRoom, "New York is no fun anymore. Has it gotten so sanitized and tame that you can’t do anything? Sitting on these steps is part of living in New York.”
The NY Sun chimes in with some history of the steps, noting that they were originally designed by Richard Morris Hunt in the late 1800s and were far smaller, however, "during the Hoving era, when the Met began to embrace an ever-expanding and increasingly populist audience for fine art, the museum wisely broadened the steps and thus transformed its entrance into one of New York's finest public spaces." This time around the steps are undergoing "cleaning, restoring, and rethermalizing."
Met spokeswoman Elyse Topalian explained the abundance of "pleasant seating space in the museum, including courtyards with art as well as seating."
Pictured: Gossip Girl filming on the steps of the Metropolitan.
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There goes one of the best upskirt gazing spots in the city.
Sanitized!? NOPE! More like totally dirty AND
totally not "public space" friendly. That's NYC.
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It is not about cleanliness as much as access.
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Everything seems to be either for sale or totally private...I would say NYC makes people feel MISERABLE while in public spaces. The quality of life is not a measure that all folks can enjoy...SHITY standards NYC, that's why other cities...even Shanghai has become more progressive than NYC.
Its a busy place and people need to be able to walk by, if the rest of the staircase is under construction then yeah there is no room for people to sit, central park is right there go sit in the park.
What's the big deal?
Heaven forbid anyone gives an inch in nyc
and no
this has nothing to do with the "changing of new york"
especially considering New York has existed for 400 years and is the definition of constant change
quit living in the past
change happens suck it up
For Heaven's sake, the steps are being renovated. How do people expect the museum to renovate if they don't close off the steps temporarily? And isn't it reasonable that the remaining open portion of the steps are left open so people can, you know, actually get to the entrance of the museum? Those steps are steep; it's perfectly reasonable to have at least one clear path to the top.
If the Met doesn't clean and renovate the steps, people will whine that they're dirty and unsafe. If someone falls because the steps are crumbling, they will be sued. If they let people sit on the open 1/3 steps, if someone falls over a sitting person because they don't have a clear path, they will be sued. There's no way to win this one.
I don't live in the neighborhood and rarely go to the Met, but I have to say, the quantity of entitled yobs in this city is getting out of hand.
It's their staircase, and they can damn well cordon it off for cleaning, yes CLEANING, whenever they want.
"the abundance of 'pleasant seating space in the museum, including courtyards with art as well as seating.'"
Except you've got to shell out 20 bones for that kind of seating!
Carl Sagan
seems you were looking at the stars and forgot to read the fine print
The Met is "Suggested" Donation
Don't quite see the need to whine and bitch about this. Is this the only place in the city you could sit? Central Park is right there. And the city becoming sanitized, that was a good one.
Last time I checked the curb was still available.
Don't worry--there is little chance of that becoming sanitized.
I'd suggest the museum staff carry tazers to "encourage" entitled slobs to get off their asses. That would show them how fun NYC is.
"Except you've got to shell out 20 bones for that kind of seating!"
I thought it was a suggested donation-you can give them far less than $20-they may give you silent attitude over it, but they will let you in for less than the regular price.
Didn't they just complete a four year restoration of the facade? How can it take them an entire year to clean steps? What a waste of funds! This is why I only pay $0.05 for admission.
"New York is no fun anymore. Has it gotten so sanitized and tame that you can’t do anything? Sitting on these steps is part of living in New York.”
Typical young pup with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement. Like someone who's 29 would actually remember when NYC wasn't sanitized. Suck it up, kid. It's only for a lousy year.
I highly recommend going inside and sitting on the art. It's much cleaner, safer, and more comfortable.
There is this bench nazi night manager at Eden (N 7th and Bedford) in Williamsburg. Comes out and chases away anyone who dares to sit on their sidewalk benches without buying their cardboard pizza or something inside first. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you put a private bench on a public sidewalk and don't put up a fence or rope or something that indicates it is for customers, it's pretty much fair game, right?
I know it's a suggested donation but I get lip everytime for it. Usually it's just an awkward stare down but once the register person told me, "You have to give more than that. It's a suggested donation but you have to give more than that." I think I was trying to get in for a few dollars because I had to look at one painting for a class and that was it - didn't want to pay more for a simple in/out.
Now I'm a member though. $60 for a whole year is not a bad deal.
Wont you get piles from sitting on those stone steps? That's what my mother always told me.