The Metropolitan Museum of Art temporarily closed all three locations—The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer, and The Met Cloisters—on March 13 in response to New York City's effort to contain the spread of COVID-19. 

The museum had been preparing for this possibility for several weeks, and developed an operational plan that is now being put in place, including provisions to support salaried and hourly staff. The first phase has staff working from home until April 4, with two additional phases then implemented that could possibly spell layoffs.

In a development this week, the New York Times reported that "the Metropolitan Museum of Art is projecting a total shortfall of close to $100 million for the near future and expects to be closed until July, according to a letter the museum sent to its department heads on Wednesday."

“This is an extraordinarily challenging time for us all,” said the letter, signed by the Met’s top executives, Daniel H. Weiss, the president and chief executive, and Max Hollein, the director. “As staff members of The Met we all have a profound responsibility to protect and preserve the treasured institution we inherited.”

The Met has an operating budget of $320 million and an endowment of $3.6 billion.

“The actual impact on the endowment is going to be hard to say until the market stabilizes,” Weiss said. “Our intention is not to go into the endowment except as a last measure.”

The Met is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2020 with a series of exhibitions and programs that are now closed.