Holocaust museum in New York plans to reopen in September

New York’s museums have been closed since March due to the coronavirus pandemic and have still not been given the green light to reopen by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

A man points at a gold star inside the Museum of Jewish Heritage in the Manhattan borough of New York (photo credit: CARLO ALLEGRI/REUTERS)
A man points at a gold star inside the Museum of Jewish Heritage in the Manhattan borough of New York
(photo credit: CARLO ALLEGRI/REUTERS)

New York’s Holocaust museum is planning to reopen in September.

The Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust said Tuesday that pending approval from the city and state, it would open with limited capacity. The museum will be open three rather than five days a week with only a quarter of its previous visitor capacity and additional cleaning protocols.

New York’s museums have been closed since March due to the coronavirus pandemic and have still not been given the green light to reopen by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The museum also said it would be extending its popular exhibit about Auschwitz through May 2021. The world’s largest-ever traveling exhibition about the Nazi death camp has more than 700 original items from Auschwitz and 400 photographs.

“First and foremost is the safety of our visitors and our employees,” the museum’s president and CEO, Jack Kliger, said in a statement. “As people venture out again seeking educational experiences in safe public places, museums such as ours are uniquely qualified to welcome them back.”

The Metropolitan Museum of Art said last month that it was planning to reopen at the end of August following guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control, New York state and New York City.