Erica Orden reports in the Wall Street Journal that New York’s MoMA is in the midst of an attendance boom:

The Museum of Modern Art attracted its highest-ever number of visitors, 3.09 million, during its 2010 fiscal year, according to estimates released Monday by the museum. (The tally is an estimate because the museum’s fiscal year does not end until June 30.) The figure represents an increase of 250,000 over the previous year’s attendance, and a 530,000 increase over the museum’s first full year of operation in its new building (fiscal year 2006).

Alexandra Peers has the same numbers for the Met in the NY Observer:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art just released its attendance figures for the fiscal year and, at 5.24 million, the total is their highest since 2001, when terrorism dented tourism to New York City. Better yet, the number nudged ahead of the total attendance at such other top City attractions as Yankee Stadium (about 4 million in 2009) and outpaced annual visitors at The White House and Graceland combined.  Met Membership also hit a record high, of 138,000, the institution said. […] The attendance breakdown, year-to-date, is Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, with 380,574 visitors (it’s open until August 15); Vermeer’s Masterpiece The Milkmaid, with 329,446 visitors, and American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity (also open to August 15) with 175,033 visitors.

MoMA Attendance Hits Record High (Wall Street Journal)

The Met: Picasso Outdraws A-Rod, Elvis (NY Observer)