The Metropolitan Museum of Art is to delay plans for a $600 new wing in order to bring its finances in order.
The extension to the Fifth Avenue building which was to house modern and contemporary art was to have been ready for the Met’s 150th anniversary in 2020.
Funds will instead be prioritised for urgent repairs on the existing building.
The Met is struggling to balance its books by 2020. Cuts to staff and exhibitions were announced in September in an effort to reduce its operating budget by $31 million. In addition efforts are underway to increase retail revenues which declined by over $3 million last year.
