Intrepid Museum Plans Layoffs, 3-Month Closure Amid Low Traffic

HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — More than a month after it reopened to the public, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum announced Thursday that it would implement a number of cost-cutting measures, including staff layoffs, citing a steep drop-off in visitors during the pandemic.

Starting the week of Nov. 16, the museum, housed mostly on the U.S.S. Intrepid aircraft carrier docked at Pier 86 in Hell's Kitchen, will be open to the public only three days a week, down from five currently.

The museum will close entirely from Jan. 4, 2021 through late March, a period that typically sees low attendance each year.

Less than 5 percent of the museum's staff will lose their jobs through layoffs, and temporarily furloughs, pay cuts and reductions in work hours will be implemented across all departments, museum spokesperson Brian Walker told Patch.

The Intrepid reopened Sept. 25 after a six-month pandemic closure. Exhibitions that reopened included the space shuttle Enterprise and the aircraft collection on the ship's hangar and flight decks.

The state allowed museums to reopen in late September at no more than 25 percent capacity, but Walker said the Intrepid has averaged below that attendance threshold since reopening.

Until January, the Intrepid will be open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"The new schedule reflects the continued limited domestic and international tourism to NYC that has greatly impacted the entire industry, as well as the inability for school groups to visit and the typical seasonality of lower attendance in January, February and March," the museum said in a news release.

Related coverage: Intrepid Museum Reopens After 6-Month Closure