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Moving forward, folks visiting the South Street Seaport Museum at 12 Fulton Street will be asked to pay what they wish to enter the premise during all regular open hours.
"Visitors are invited to decide what valuation is right for them: the full ticket price, free in-person admission or any amount in between," reads the institution's website.
The pay what you wish tickets will grant you access to three exhibitions located on the ground floor of the museum, plus the famous 1885 Wavertree.
While perusing the latter destination, a permanently-moored ship, you'll get to sign up for an hourly tour that will help you navigate the main deck and the quarter deck while teaching you about how people worked and lived aboard a 19th century cargo sailing vessel. Don't forget to stand on top of the viewing platform at the end of your tour, where you'll take in the massive main cargo area and snap the sorts of photos that will delight all of your Instagram followers.
General admission hours run from Wednesday to Sunday between 11am and 5pm.
While in the area, we suggest you also take a walk by the legendary Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, which is actually getting restored.
Over a century after it was first erected, the 60-foot-tall monument honoring those who perished on the Titanic is undergoing renovations under the tutelage of the South Street Seaport Museum itself.
The original lighthouse, designed by the same architects responsible for Grand Central Terminal, Warren and Wetmore, sat atop the Seamen's Church Institute at 25 South Street. The now public artifact wasn't just an effort in aesthetics, but a fully functioning lighthouse that even boasted a time ball that would drop down daily to let the boats in the harbor know it was noontime. A working green light was also part of the monument.
In the late 1960s, the Seamen's Church Institute was demolished and the lighthouse was donated to the South Street Seaport Museum. The entity decided to re-install it at its current location in 1976 and, now, after years of campaigning, the Friends of Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, a group that consists of both preservationists and the descendants of those who passed away on the boat, have been able to make their voices heard and start the renovation process.