(New York, May 12, 2021)—The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today that it will be an early voting site for the 2021 New York City Mayoral election. From Saturday, June 12, to Sunday, June 20, the Museum will open its Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education so that registered voters can cast their ballots for the next Mayor of New York City. The Museum will also host a voting site on election day, June 22.
The Met’s voting site will be organized and monitored by the Board of Elections.
Dan Weiss, President and CEO of the Museum said, “The Met is a civic institution that holds dearly the values of democracy, and we are honored to be able to support this important effort to give New Yorkers access to early voting. We’re thankful to Council Member Keith Powers and to Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright for their partnership in this endeavor.”
Council Member Keith Powers commented, “New Yorkers will now be able to vote inside one of the city’s best institutions. The more sites that serve as polling places, the easier it is for New Yorkers to vote. My office has been working to identify new early voting locations to make early voting easy and accessible. I am thankful to The Met for stepping up for New York City.”
Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright said, “The Metropolitan Museum of Art is stepping up at a critical time to help ensure that voters of the Upper East Side will never again have to endure the horrific overcrowding and delays that they experienced during early voting last fall. I commend Met President and CEO Dan Weiss, and express my deep appreciation as the museum provides this important public service—a first in the institution's 151-year history.”
Assembly Member Danny O'Donnell said, “Early voting is a critical way to make democratic participation more accessible. The more early voting sites we have, the more likely New Yorkers are to go out and vote. I want to thank the Met Museum for stepping up and supporting our community by opening its doors to early voters ahead of our June primaries. The Met Museum is a true example of how major cultural institutions contribute to our society, both intellectually and civically.”
About The Met
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 by a group of American citizens—businessmen and financiers as well as leading artists and thinkers of the day—who wanted to create a museum to bring art and art education to the American people. Today, The Met displays tens of thousands of objects covering 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in two iconic sites in New York City—The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online. Since its founding, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. Every day, art comes alive in the Museum's galleries and through its exhibitions and events, revealing both new ideas and unexpected connections across time and across cultures.
About The Met’s Reopening
The Metropolitan Museum of Art reopened on August 29, 2020, after more than five months of closure due to the pandemic, with The Met Cloisters following on September 12, 2020. Since then, The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters have been open five days a week, Thursday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Met has developed comprehensive safety procedures for its staff and visitors, following guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), New York State, and New York City. More information on what visitors can expect is available here, or visit metmuseum.org.
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May 12, 2021
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