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Get Your Seat Off the Met Steps
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 5, 2008
Modified Jun 5, 2008
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 5, 2008
Modified Jun 5, 2008
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Tourists, museum-goers and Gossip Girl-esque Upper East Siders...the Metropolitan Museum steps are no longer for you to sit on...at least, temporarily. CityRoom reports that the steps are undergoing a yearlong renovation, and until the project is done, the 1/3 of the steps left open are for walking only. Even tourists taking photos with the famous backdrop are getting booted.
How are people reacting to the change? Reportedly the museum staffers are quite busy shooing resting folks away all day -- some who oblige, some who do not. One visitor told CityRoom, "New York is no fun anymore. Has it gotten so sanitized and tame that you can’t do anything? Sitting on these steps is part of living in New York.”
The NY Sun chimes in with some history of the steps, noting that they were originally designed by Richard Morris Hunt in the late 1800s and were far smaller, however, "during the Hoving era, when the Met began to embrace an ever-expanding and increasingly populist audience for fine art, the museum wisely broadened the steps and thus transformed its entrance into one of New York's finest public spaces." This time around the steps are undergoing "cleaning, restoring, and rethermalizing."
Met spokeswoman Elyse Topalian explained the abundance of "pleasant seating space in the museum, including courtyards with art as well as seating."
Pictured: Gossip Girl filming on the steps of the Metropolitan.
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metropolitan museum
renovation
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steps
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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