Why Your Broke-Ass Needs a MoMA Membership

I know you’re probably having your third serving of ramen this week and laughing at the title of this article because your broke-ass and “museum membership” don’t belong in the same goddamn sentence.  I thought the same thing.  My friend was like, “oh, I’m a member” and I wanted to slap him, and then search for the pin to his trust fund.  I hate rich people.  I do.  I know it’s superficial and petty and all that.  I don’t know.  I didn’t grow up poor or anything either – it’s just a complex.  “Oh, I’m a member.”  Prick.

So, what my friend meant with I’m a member, is that he could get me into the MoMA for 5 bucks – he was just being a magnanimous bourgeoisie.  I thanked him, grabbed a few banky looking envelopes in his name off the coffee table, and told him I would meet him the following afternoon for our museum date.

That was over a year ago.  Since then, I have become a member.  I mostly became a member because I was sick of calling my friend every time I wanted to go see a damn exhibit, but honestly, the fifty bucks I spent on the bloody thing is the best investment I’ve made since moving to NYC.  Not only because I like to maintain a facade of intellectualism, but also because I actually use the damned thing.  I go to free shit weekly with that little piece of plastic.  And guess what?  I’ve heard that soon the membership program is going to change (sorry I can’t reveal my source – then again, I do accept bribes).

So hurry up and get one before it’s too late.  With the membership you get unlimited FREE admission to the MoMA and PS1, which is great – they’re both enriching, world-class museums.  But that’s not the kicker.  What I really love about my MoMA membership are the dance parties and the films.

Each Saturday in the summer, PS1 throws a daytime outdoor dance party.  PS1 Warm Up brings hundreds of great musicians and it’s FREE with a MoMA Membership (usually $20), plus you get to cut the line, which can be obnoxiously long for big acts.  Warning:  There is some weird two-tiered ticket system for beer and water at Warm Up that is confusing and takes forever, so I just bring a flask or buy beer from the party store and drink it on a stoop (oh yeah, you get to leave and come back as much as you want!).

PS1 Warm Up from the top floor of PS1

Then there are the films.  MOMA’s film screenings are all FREE with your MOMA membership as well.  There are several each day, and they range from art-house and/or foreign, to mainstream /Oscar-winning.  I usually stop home on my way back from work and catch a 7pm movie.  It’s magical, I’m telling you.  Spend the $50 (with a student ID), the $60 (when two people at the same address sign up together), or the $75 (one person, without a student ID).  I really think it’s a good deal at any of the rates, especially for those of you who still have a student ID.  Go grab one before it’s too late!

Museum of Modern Art 
11 W 53rd St. (between 5th and 6th Ave)
[Midtown West]

Photo Credits: Shobun Baile (main) & David Torrone (shitty iPhone photo of PS1’s Warm Up)