Museums, Broadway Theaters in New York Temporarily Close to Slow Spread of the Coronavirus

Broadway theaters along with several of New York City’s major cultural institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, and the Metropolitan Opera announced they would temporarily close as part of an effort to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The news came shortly after New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, announced a ban on gatherings of more than 500 people. Exceptions to the limit include schools, hospitals, mass transit, and nursing homes.

The ban goes into effect this Friday at 5 p.m. local time.  Broadway theaters will go dark one day earlier, on Thursday at 5 p.m.

Institutions in the city came out in support of the move.

 “The Met’s priority is to protect and support our staff, volunteers and visitors,” Daniel Weiss, the museum’s president and chief executive, said in a statement.

At press time, multiple museums including Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Guggenheim had yet to signal their plans.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)