Museum memberships worth the splurge

Delicious benefits from the New Museum

American Museum of Natural History
The sheer scale and scope of the collections in AMNH’s 45 museum halls and an IMAX means you won’t get tired of exploring after a few trips. Consider it seventy bucks well spent.

City Reliquary Museum
Why spend $55 on a museum as small as the City Reliquary? Apart from the satisfaction of supporting an utterly unique New York institution, you’ll get a City Reliquary T-shirt. Try buying that in Urban Outfitters.

Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met Net Membership is the cheapest membership for one of the big three museums at $60. You’ll also get into the satellite Cloisters and one opportunity to take brunch in the Trustees Dining Room overlooking Central Park.

Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art
A measly $35 buys you access to MoCCA’s library during museum hours (the plebs can only sully the pages on Sundays). With more than 1,000 volumes, it’s a small price for hours of graphic immersion.

Museum of Modern Art
There’s no point in paying $75 to have unlimited entry if no one will go with you; MoMA allows members to bring two guests along for $5 each. Your membership is also good for film screenings and the Warm Up parties at P.S.1. Contemporary Art Center.

Museum of the Moving Image
Perhaps it’s better to wait until MoMI is fully reopened in 2010 before dropping $65 on a membership, but if you’re a regular filmgoer, the ticket discounts at Anthology Film Archives, Cinema Village, Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and the Landmark Sunshine Theater will add up fast.

New Museum
Sixty-five dollars buys unlimited access to contemporary art exhibitions, 10 percent off the well-curated selection of art books in the gift shop, and notable discounts on the museum’s many talks and musical events. Best of all, for a limited time, your membership comes in the form of a chocolate bar. Willy Wonka-tastic.

Tenement Museum
With five tours to take at $20 a pop, a $55 membership with free admission to all tours and reduced entry to the Museum at Eldridge Street and the Merchant’s House Museum pays for itself.

Whitney Museum of Modern Art
In addition to the usual, a $75 membership nets you private viewings of exhibitions with a continental breakfast. There’s also a discount program with discounts off 29 high-end Upper East Side restaurants, boutiques, wine sellers and more.

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