NY Metropolitan Museum announces record attendance

[July 22, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- It's been a banner year for New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The museum on Thursday announced its highest attendance in 40 years, saying over 5.6 million people visited during the fiscal year that ended June 30. That's 400,000 more than last year. The number includes attendance at The Cloisters museum and gardens.

The Met said visitors were particularly drawn to a number of special exhibitions, including "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty," which had more than 500,000 visitors since it opened May 4. Also popular was last summer's Picasso exhibit, which drew more than 703,000 visitors.

Museum CEO and Director Thomas Campbell said he was "delighted" by the extraordinary response, saying "the Met is truly a museum of the world."

[Associated Press]

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