Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is pay-what-you-wish sun/Mon/Tue/Wed/Thu/Fri/Sat 5pm–6pm (PWYW). The one Smithsonian museum that charges admission, and tickets are required. Admission is currently reduced to $10 for adults because the second- and third-floor galleries are closed for an exhibition changeover. Pay-what-you-wish runs every day from 5 to 6 p.m. Tickets required: buy online (up to nine per order) or at the door. Complimentary-admission visitors check in at the Visitor Experience Desk with ID, no advance ticket needed. Verified on Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum's own page, last checked 2026-10-02.
| Free day | Sun/Mon/Tue/Wed/Thu/Fri/Sat 5pm–6pm (PWYW) |
|---|---|
| Who qualifies | Everyone during the pay-what-you-wish hour. Free year-round for ages 18 and under. Also free for: SNAP/EBT cardholders plus 3 guests (Museums for All); Bank of America cardholders on the first full weekend of each month (Museums on Us); Culture Pass reservations (holder plus 1 guest); Smithsonian and NARM members plus 1 guest; active-duty military and their families. |
| Reservation | Tickets required: buy online (up to nine per order) or at the door. Complimentary-admission visitors check in at the Visitor Experience Desk with ID, no advance ticket needed. |
| What's included | Galleries currently on view (second and third floors temporarily closed), plus the garden, open daily 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m. |
| Regular adult price | $10 adults; $5 seniors (62+), students with ID and visitors with disabilities; free for 18 and under. These are temporarily reduced prices during an exhibition changeover, and full prices aren't posted right now. |
| Source | cooperhewitt.org · checked 2026-10-02 |
Regular adult admission at Cooper Hewitt is $10, so timing the visit to the pay-what-you-wish window keeps up to $20 in a couple's pocket and up to $40 for a family of four — every qualifying week. And since this free day is open to everyone, it's the cheapest possible way through the door. The catch is capacity, not money: free slots are reserved in advance and the popular dates go first, so the reservation is the real currency here.
Regular tickets ($10 adults; $5 seniors (62+), students with ID and visitors with disabilities; free for 18 and under. These are temporarily reduced prices during an exhibition changeover, and full prices aren't posted right now.) are on cooperhewitt.org — the official site is the place to buy; resellers only add fees. If you're hitting several New York attractions, CityPASS New York discounts a bundle of the big ones — confirm Cooper Hewitt is in the current lineup first.
American Museum of Natural History (pay-what-you-wish daily (residents)) · Bronx Zoo (no regular free day) · MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) (fridays 5:30pm–8:30pm) · The Metropolitan Museum of Art (pay-what-you-wish daily (residents)) · Brooklyn Museum (pay-what-you-wish daily) · Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (sun/tue 4pm–5:30pm (pwyw)) · Whitney Museum of American Art (fridays 5pm–10pm) · Museum of the Moving Image (thursdays 2pm–6pm) — or see the full free museum days in New York guide.
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The one Smithsonian museum that charges admission, and tickets are required. Admission is currently reduced to $10 for adults because the second- and third-floor galleries are closed for an exhibition changeover. Pay-what-you-wish runs every day from 5 to 6 p.m.
Tickets required: buy online (up to nine per order) or at the door. Complimentary-admission visitors check in at the Visitor Experience Desk with ID, no advance ticket needed.
Galleries currently on view (second and third floors temporarily closed), plus the garden, open daily 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
$10 adults; $5 seniors (62+), students with ID and visitors with disabilities; free for 18 and under. These are temporarily reduced prices during an exhibition changeover, and full prices aren't posted right now.. Time the visit right and that's the amount you keep.
At $10 per adult, two adults keep $20 and a group of four paying adult prices keeps up to $40 per visit — before parking and extras.