Met now charging non-New Yorkers

NEW YORK — In the two months since the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced a momentous change for visitors — charging $25 to those who live outside New York state, instead of letting them pay what they wish — the museum has gone to great lengths to prepare for Day 1.

But as the new mandatory fee went into effect Thursday morning, it is far from clear whether people will agreeably pay the required admission.

Daniel Weiss, the Met’s president and chief executive officer, has made a concerted effort to explain why the new fee is necessary to bolster one of the world’s largest and most-renowned cultural institutions. The proportion of museumgoers who pay a “suggested” amount has declined from 63 percent to 17 percent over the past 13 years, even as Met attendance has surged from 4.7 million to 7 million.

The Met also has been girding for the logistical challenges of checking proof of residence without segregating people in a separate line as if they were second-class visitors.

The museum also expects some blowback from those who see the change as a betrayal of the Met’s role as a public institution.

“What are we valuing in this difficult political and economic moment?” asked Amanda Williams, an artist and architect based in Chicago. “And for young people, especially little black and brown bodies, they are receiving more and more messages that they don’t belong.”

Other responses have been more sympathetic to the Met’s financial rationale.