According to reports in the NY Times, the NY Post and others, two women were stabbed this afternoon at the Museum of Modern Art and were said to be in “stable” (NY Times) or in “not life-threatening” (NY Post) condition. The suspect, according to the Post, was “believed to be a disgruntled former employee” and “is known to police.” UPDATE: According to a spokesperson for the NY Police Department, who spoke later to reporters (see video link below), he was not a former employee of MoMA. According to the Times (and confirmed in the police video), the suspect is “a man whose membership had recently been revoked because of disorderly conduct.” In a later revised report, the Times said that the victims were a woman and a man (not two women, as initially reported).
The museum was evacuated.
Photo by Lee Rosenbaum
As it happens, the end of a section on MoMA’s website titled “Visit Us Safely” includes the following passage, which seems atypical for an art museum’s website, suggesting that it might have been added in light of the incident itself or in light of previous disturbing threats:
The Post report includes photos of the alert-looking victims (one of whom was conspicuously bloodied) being wheeled out on stretchers.
As of 7:30 p.m. today (Saturday), I see nothing about this alarming incident on MoMA’s home page, nor on its press page. There’s also nothing about posted about this by the museum on its Twitter feed (@MuseumModernArt), although visitors who were on the scene have tweeted about it.
I’ve sent queries to the museum’s director and to its head of communications, who, understandably, have more important matters to attend to than my questions.
UPDATE: Here’s a video of John Miller, the New York Police Department’s deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, discussing the incident and the suspect in a press conference outside of MoMA.
UPDATE 2: MoMA announced on Twitter at 10:13 p.m. today (Saturday) that it will be closed tomorrow:
The museum has also added this notice to the bottom of its webpages:
MoMA and its Stores will be closed to the public on Sunday, March 13. For more details [emphasis added] please contact information@moma.org.
I emailed that address and got amplification, but no “details” about the reason for the closure:
MoMA, our theaters, and our retail stores will be closed on Sunday, March 13th and will re-open at 12:00 p.m. on Monday, March 14th. If you would like to refund or reschedule your ticket(s) to a future date, please email tickets@moma.org.
We apologize for any inconvenience, and we thank you for your understanding and for being a part of MoMA.…Uniqlo Free Friday Nights are canceled until further notice.
I guess they didn’t want to scare away potential visitors by providing “more details” about the changes than absolutely necessary.
A NOTE TO MY READERS: If you appreciate my coverage, please consider supporting CultureGrrl via PayPal by clicking the “Donate” button in the righthand column of the desktop version or by scrolling down to the “DONATE” link in the mobile version. Contributors of $15 or more are added to my email blast for immediate notification of new posts.