New York’s Museum of Modern Art reopens after a six-month shutdown

New York’s Museum of Modern Art reopened its doors on Thursday after a six-month shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, allowing people to witness the experience of viewing its works by Monet, Van Gogh, and Warhol without the usual throngs of visitors.

As the tourism sector is at a standstill due to pandemic, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) reopened under new regulations, witnessing only a few visitors on the first day. The museum will operate at 25% of capacity and with the precautions of social distancing, temperature, and other guidelines for COVID-19.

MOMA is the first major museum in the Big Apple to reopen to the public since the US cultural capital was hard-hit by the virus, bringing its busy calendar to a halt.

For now, the MOMA has limited capacity to 100 people per hour, however, museum leadership hopes to gradually increase entry numbers, explained Sonya Shrier, the director of visitor engagement.

“It’s really a very special time to visit the galleries because the galleries aren’t as crowded, but also, it’s such a wonderful opportunity for visitors to gather safely… in a difficult time,” she said.

The grand reopening was meticulously planned, and it’s “just so gratifying to see the plans in action and the doors open and visitors back,” Shrier added.

New York’s largest museum, the famed Metropolitan Museum of Art, will reopen on Saturday, and the majority of other museums are expected to reopen by early October.

New York City was hit hard by COVID-19 in the spring, with more than 23,600 deaths. But the city has become a model for keeping the pandemic under control, with an infection rate of about 1%.