CRI听力:Metropolitan Museum starts charging non-New Yorkers

The Metropolitan Museum - a fixture for any tourist to New York and the largest museum in the world - hosts a whopping 7 million visitors each year.

It costs 300 million dollars annually to operate the Met, but this art and cultural institution was until recently the only museum of its kind that received no federal funding for the arts, and required no entry fee.

The MET is famous for its treasure trove of art spanning 5 thousand years of world culture - from Claude Monet's Water Lily Impressionist paintings to the relics from Ancient Egypt and King Tut's tomb.

But in a controversial move this year, the MET decided to charge non-New York state residents a $25 dollars fee for a 3-day pass to its 3 buildings. New Yorkers will be able to pay a donation for entry as they wish.

Kenneth Weine, the museum's Chief Communications Officer says while the uptick in visitors has almost doubled in the past two decades, donations from visitors have fallen by 70%.

"For a museum to be successful it needs support from government, from visitors and from philanthropy. We are truly a global museum, we're the world's largest museum, 7 million visitors a year. We receive no money from the federal government，" Weine says.

Donations from visitors only accounted for about 12% of its overall budget, the remaining bulk coming from big-time donors. The museum is hoping the change will help them have a more predictable source of revenue.

"We actually think this is a really important opportunity to have a conversation with the public about how great culture is funded，" Weine adds.

While it may be too soon to know whether the $25 admission will mean fewer visitors some tourists say they'd rather spend their money elsewhere.

"Arts is full [in] Italy - so it's not so important to us to visit this," says one tourist.

But other visitors say the treasures at the MET are worth the price of admission - like this woman from the nearby state of Connecticut.

"I don't think it will deter visitors - I think New York is expensive enough that if they know they're coming here - they're just gonna have to just suck it up and pay to come to the museum. It would be a tragedy if they missed."

And the MET says it's certain that the change will help the enormous organization provide its art, history, and archaeological offerings for years to come.