In healthy conditions and a festive atmosphere

Queues of visitors return again at the gates of the "Metropolitan" museum

Visitors wear masks during their tour of the museum.

A.F.B.

Visitors gathered in queues in front of the ticket windows of the "Metropolitan Museum of Art", in New York, which a few days ago reopened its doors to the public in a festive atmosphere. American cities, after a closure of nearly six months, due to the "Covid-19" pandemic.

Michael Scully, 39, who was one of the first New Yorkers to return to the museum on Fifth Avenue, on the outskirts of Central Park, said: “I am a big museum aficionado, and very happy to be here. It's a really important moment for the city. To life ».

Describing New York as "the best city in the world", she added, "We are here and we will not leave, it will return better than it was."

Since ten in the morning, this Canadian-born woman stood in line with hundreds of other visitors, complying with a smile and willingly to the new health rules, such as wearing a muzzle, measuring body temperature, reserving the time slot for the visit in advance and adhering to the specific course of action during the tour in the sections of this museum, one of the most attractive museums For visitors in the world, to see the Egyptian Dandour Temple and all the treasures it contains, from ancient Egypt to contemporary art.

The first step

Joy was on the faces of all the visitors.

Chris Martinetti (34 years) and his wife, who came from Queens, were happy to return to their "favorite place", as it was in this museum that they met for the first time five years ago.

As for Tracy-Ann Samuel, she came with her ninth and fourth-year-old daughters from neighboring Connecticut, excited to find herself once again “surrounded by beautiful works of art,” which is a “treat for the soul,” she said.

Noting that reopening the museum "means that there is a somewhat normal life," she described it as an "important first step," noting that "metropolitan" has been "part of New York's history for 150 years."

The "Metropolitan", in recent weeks, was silencing his burning while watching the equivalent European museums reopen their doors, such as the French Louvre.

After a record number of deaths due to the new Corona virus was recorded in New York, which reached more than 23,600 cases, most of them in the spring, the measures taken by the city authorities have become a model for cautious strategies aimed at containing the "Covid-19" pandemic.

Museums such as the Museum of Modern Art "MOMA" were allowed to resume work only this week, provided that they were satisfied with a limited number of visitors, not exceeding 25% of their capacity.

"Metropolitan officials" reported this period, in order to learn from their colleagues in other museums of the world, in light of fears of a possible "second wave" of the pandemic.

"We hear what is happening in other places, and we know that (reopening) safely is not that easy," said museum president Daniel Weiss.

"More comprehensive"

Metropolitan officials were also able to adapt to the widespread protest movement that has been taking place in the United States since the killing of George Floyd in May, against social inequality.

In this context, the museum devoted a new exhibition to the black American artist Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000), which means, according to Weiss, that the museum, which celebrates, next April, its 150th anniversary, has become "more comprehensive."

The lost profit on the museum amounted to about $ 150 million over 18 months, which, according to Weiss, is a "very large" amount for this institution, which relies more than European museums on the revenues from selling entrance tickets.

With the absence of buses carrying groups of tourists, the museum has resorted to reducing its expenditures and dispensed with the services of about 20% of its employees, who numbered about 2,000 before the pandemic.

For comparison, the museum can, at present, receive between 7000 and 10 thousand visitors on a Saturday, for example, while the number of visitors on Saturdays before the pandemic reached about 40 thousand.

It is expected that restrictions will continue to apply to the number of visitors, which the museum is allowed to receive for several months.

However, the museum "will emerge from this crisis, because we are a large institution," according to Weiss, who on the other hand expressed his concern "about small enterprises."

And if some see a bleak future, considering that the exodus of thousands of wealthy New Yorkers from their city, and the deserted business district scene, indicating that New York is "over", then Weiss is convinced, like many others, that the city will rise again.

The museum can, at present, receive between 7000 and 10 thousand visitors, while the number of visitors on Saturdays, before the pandemic, reached about 40 thousand.

Approximately 150 million dollars ... the amount of the lost profit on the museum within 18 months.

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