We gathered below list of New York museums that are either free (general admission only) or small charge for your convenience, some are free on specific days/hours.
Free/Pay what you wish
Metropolitan Museum of Art (pay what you wish)
Brooklyn Museum (pay what you wish)African Burial Ground Memorial Site
American Folk Art Museum
American Museum of Natural History (pay what you wish)
BRIC Arts Media House
The Bronx Museum of the Arts
The Cloisters (pay what you wish)
El Museo del Barrio (pay what you wish)
Federal Hall National Memorial
The Federal Reserve Bank
General Grant National Memorial
Hamilton Grange
The Harbor Defense Museum
The Hispanic Society of America
Irish Hunger Memorial
Leslie–Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art
Museum of Biblical Art
Museum of the City of New York (pay what you wish)
The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology
National Museum of the American Indian
The New York Public Library Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
New York Transit Museum Annex & Store, Grand Central Terminal
P.S.1 MoMA (pay what you wish)
Queens County Farm Museum
Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America
Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden (grounds and botanical garden only)
Socrates Sculpture Park
Sony Wonder Technology Lab
Studio Museum in Harlem (pay what you wish)
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace
Sometimes Free
The following museums usually require paid admission but open their doors for free on specific days or times:
Mondays
Museum at Eldridge Street (10am to noon, tours)
Tuesdays
9/11 Memorial & Museum (5pm to close)
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Morgan Library and Museum (McKim Rooms only, 3 to 5pm)
Wave Hill (9am to noon)
Wednesdays
Bronx Zoo (pay what you wish for grounds access)
Museum of Jewish Heritage (4 to 8pm)
New York Botanical Garden (free grounds access)
Queens Botanical Garden (April – October, 3 to 6pm; all day rest of year)
Staten Island Zoo (2 to 4:45pm)
Thursdays
Brooklyn Children’s Museum (3 to 5pm)
Museum of Arts and Design (pay what you wish, 6 to 9pm)
Museum of Chinese in America
New Museum (pay what you wish, 7 to 9pm, Suggested Minimum: $2)
Fridays
Asia Society (September through June, 6 to 9pm)
Historic Richmond Town (1 to 5pm)
Japan Society (6 to 9pm)
Morgan Library and Museum (7 to 9pm)
Museum of Modern Art (4 to 8pm)
Museum of the Moving Image (4 to 8pm)
New York Aquarium (pay what you wish, 3pm to close; 4pm to close in summer)
New York Hall of Science (September through June, 2 to 5pm)
The New-York Historical Society (pay what you wish, 6 to 8pm)
Rubin Museum of Art (6 to 10pm)
Whitney Museum of American Art (7 to 10pm)
First Friday of the Month
Children’s Museum of Manhattan (5 to 8pm)
Neue Galerie (6 to 8pm)
The Noguchi Museum
Saturdays
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden (10am to noon)
Cooper Hewitt Design Museum (6 to 9pm)
The Jewish Museum
New York Botanical Garden (free grounds pass, 9 to 10am)
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (pay what you wish, 5:45 to 7:45pm)
Wave Hill (9am to noon)
First Saturday of the Month
Brooklyn Museum (5 to 11pm)
Third Saturday of the Month
El Museo del Barrio
Sundays
Frick Collection (pay what you wish, 11am to 1pm)
The Morgan Library and Museum (McKim Rooms only, 4 to 6pm)
New York Hall of Science (September through June, 10 to 11am)
Queens Botanical Garden (April through October, 4 to 6pm)
Studio Museum in Harlem
Seasonal
Brooklyn Botanic Garden (November through February, weekdays)
Queens Botanical Garden (November through March, Tuesday through Sunday)