Some of New York’s most prominent cultural institutions reportedly are getting off the hook on paying fines for fire code violations. Gothamist reports that the city is not collecting fines from institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of the City of New York. A reporter reviewed dozens of summonses the Fire Department (FDNY) issued to these museums between 2023 and 2025, the vast majority of which are for fire alarms sounding in the absence of any emergency.
These museums operate on city-owned property and receive capital investments from the city. The FDNY issues the violations not to the individual museums, but rather to the Department of Cultural Affairs (DLCA). “When the city fines one of its own agencies, it generally doesn’t collect—because that would be the same as the city paying money to itself,” writes Gothamist, based on an explanation by a spokesperson with the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.
Gothamist reviewed evidence of at least 65 summonses to the DLCA. Nine were issued to the Met Museum, five of them within just three months in 2025.
A procedures manual for members of the Cultural Institutions Group (CIG), a coalition of 39 nonprofit museums and other organizations, indicates that the member organizations are responsible for paying any fines from regulatory agencies, says Gothamist.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CIG referred Gothamist to the city and did not immediately respond to an email from ARTnews.
