in our history of 100 and 50 years. We have been closed before probably for three days at most through snowstorms or maybe after 9 11, but never like this. We’ve now been closed for 5.5 months. So we are extraordinarily excited about being reopened. The Governor’s mandate is that it’s 25% of your normal number of visitors. So on *** typical saturday in august we might see 30,000 people on *** normal day. So we’ll have 25% of that, which is about 7500. So, when people come to the museum today, uh, notwithstanding the fact that the world around us has made managing this pandemic, so difficult and challenging. It won’t be all that different here. People will have to wear *** mask. But beyond that, the experience will be much like it’s always been. They’ll be able to wander freely to appreciate the collection to look at the exhibitions and have an experience. *** lot like the Good Old Days. I’m so excited. I have missed seeing art in real life. The images online are wonderful, but there’s nothing that can compared to seeing it in real life. I really feel like the city has, it’s really coming alive right now. Um, it feels really nice to get out to support these, um, these places and um, and certainly the Met is just an incredible organization and it feels great to be here
Dozens of ancient artifacts investigators believe were looted have been seized from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.The office seized 27 artifacts from the Met using three search warrants. They will be repatriated to their countries of origin, a spokesperson for District Attorney Alvin Bragg told CNN.”We have two repatriation ceremonies next week, one with Italy and one with Egypt,” the spokesperson told CNN. “Fifty-eight objects will go back to Italy, 21 from the Met. Sixteen to Egypt, six from the Met.”Bragg’s office did not detail where the other artifacts were seized from, nor did it describe the artifacts seized.”It should be no secret to collectors, art museums and auction houses that they may be in possession of pieces from known traffickers that were illegally looted,” Bragg said. “The investigations conducted by my office have clearly exposed these networks and put into the public domain a wealth of information the art world can proactively use to return antiquities to where they rightfully belong.””Our investigations, which have led to the repatriation of nearly 2,000 objects, will continue,” he added.CNN has reached out to the Met for comment.The effort to return cultural artifacts to their home countries after being illegally sold to private collectors or museums has been ongoing. In August, New York officials returned 30 antiquities to Cambodia, including a 10th-century Khmer sculptural “masterpiece.”Officials also returned stolen antiquities worth nearly $14 million to Italy in July, including dozens of artifacts seized from US billionaire Michael Steinhardt.In 2021, the Met returned three African art objects, including a pair of 16th-century Benin brass plaques, to Nigeria. The move came after European museums began returning stolen African art to their native countries following mounting pressure to return the irreplaceable artifacts plundered during colonial times.
Dozens of ancient artifacts investigators believe were looted have been seized from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
The office seized 27 artifacts from the Met using three search warrants. They will be repatriated to their countries of origin, a spokesperson for District Attorney Alvin Bragg told CNN.
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“We have two repatriation ceremonies next week, one with Italy and one with Egypt,” the spokesperson told CNN. “Fifty-eight objects will go back to Italy, 21 from the Met. Sixteen to Egypt, six from the Met.”
Bragg’s office did not detail where the other artifacts were seized from, nor did it describe the artifacts seized.
“It should be no secret to collectors, art museums and auction houses that they may be in possession of pieces from known traffickers that were illegally looted,” Bragg said. “The investigations conducted by my office have clearly exposed these networks and put into the public domain a wealth of information the art world can proactively use to return antiquities to where they rightfully belong.”
“Our investigations, which have led to the repatriation of nearly 2,000 objects, will continue,” he added.
CNN has reached out to the Met for comment.
The effort to return cultural artifacts to their home countries after being illegally sold to private collectors or museums has been ongoing. In August, New York officials returned 30 antiquities to Cambodia, including a 10th-century Khmer sculptural “masterpiece.”
Officials also returned stolen antiquities worth nearly $14 million to Italy in July, including dozens of artifacts seized from US billionaire Michael Steinhardt.
In 2021, the Met returned three African art objects, including a pair of 16th-century Benin brass plaques, to Nigeria. The move came after European museums began returning stolen African art to their native countries following mounting pressure to return the irreplaceable artifacts plundered during colonial times.
