Free NYC Museum Admission by Borough

With admission to some NYC museums now up to $25 per person, be smart - and cheap - and visit when these must-see destinations are FREE. The caveat, of course, is that free means crowded with others enjoying NYC culture on the cheap. Borough by borough, these are the freebies -

Free museum admission - Manhattan

American Museum of Natural History: Free the last hour (4:45-5:45pm). Admission price is ‘suggested’ at all other times, so you could pay as little as $1 if you have the chutzpah, and the thick skin to ignore the dirty looks. Central Park West & 79th St, Upper West Side.

El Museo del Barrio: Free the third Saturday of the month. 1230 Fifth Ave between 104th & 105th Sts, Spanish Harlem.

Museum of Modern Art: Entry is free 4-8pm on Friday. Gets busy. 11 W 53rd St, between Fifth & Sixth Aves, Midtown West.

Neue Galerie: Free 6-8pm the first Friday of the month. 1048 Fifth Ave at 86th St, Upper East Side.

New York Historical Society: Pay what you wish, 6-8pm Friday. 2 W 77th St at Central Park West, Upper West Side.

Studio Museum in Harlem: Free on Sunday. 144 W 125th St at Adam Clayton Powell Blvd, Harlem.

Jewish Museum: Free on Saturday, 11am to 5:45pm.

Free museum admission - Brooklyn

Brooklyn Botanic Garden: Free all day Tuesdays, and 10am to noon Saturday. Eastern Parkway at Washington Ave, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Museum: Free first Saturday of the month, when there’s big wine-sipping, DJ parties that draw half the neighborhood. 200 Eastern Parkway, at Washington Ave, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.