They will still gape up at its massive skeleton, but there will less of them. They’ll stand farther apart, and will now wear masks. Other pandemic precautions will be on display, from hand sanitizer stations to the one-way signs guiding guests through exhibits.

The museum is like many cultural institutions in the city gingerly reopening their doors, weighing the safety of visitors and staff with the need to educate, inspire and support New York’s recovery.

“We have to re-imagine and re-engineer the museum visit,” says museum President Ellen Futter. “We want to fulfill our civic mission. And we think that our mission has never been more important.”

New York City was by far the hardest-hit U.S. city by the pandemic, but it’s also home to world-class cultural institutions that has for decades — city leaders hope will once again — draw millions.

The Museum of Modern Art opens Thursday and The Metropolitan Museum of Art reopens its Upper East Side home on Saturday. The American Museum of Natural History plans to reopen to the public Sept. 9.

City museums will institute a range of precautions, including reduced hours, reserved tickets, mandating masks, limiting attendance to a quarter of capacity and closing movie theaters, coat rooms and food courts.