ART BIZ | Met Charge Is Criticized

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the world's largest cultural institution,
has been having financial difficulties. Their solution is to impose a
mandatory fee for non-residents of NY State, for the first time since 1970.
Welcome signs and verse below by JT Marlin.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Is now charging at the gate.
Prove that you're from the State...
Or twenty-five bucks is the rate.

A panel of senior art critics for The New York Times has denounced the move by the world’s largest cultural institution, the Metropolitan Museum of Art ("The Met", also confusingly the nickname of the Metropolitan Opera) to start, on March 1, charging a fee for admission to out-of-staters. 

This policy reverses one established in 1970 that a voluntary donation to the Met is all that is required for admission. The new policy imposes two new entry barriers. Either produce acceptable identification to prove you are a resident of NY State, OR pay $25 to be admitted.

The Met says that the fee is needed to ensure a steadier flow of revenue, because the number of visitors paying the "suggested donation" of $25 is sharply declining.