Thousands show up for last day of Met's McQueen exhibit

Thousands of people endured wild lines Sunday for a final glimpse of “Savage Beauty,” the record-shattering Alexander McQueen fashion exhibit that turned the Metropolitan Museum of Art into the hottest runway in the city.

“We haven’t seen the likes of those lines since the ‘Mona Lisa’ was here in 1963,” a Met spokeswoman said, with the museum staying open until midnight over the weekend, a first, to meet the demand.

The show has drawn more than 650,000 visitors since the opening on May 4, and is the Met’s biggest fashion-related exhibit ever.

Two lines sprouted at the museum’s entrance at 82nd Street Sunday, twisting around a fountain and lining the length of the building before turning corners blocks away to wrap along its sides.

“I’m a slave for fashion,” said Crystal Wray, of Flatbush, who had been waiting outside for nearly an hour to get into the museum and had at least an hour to go — before getting on another long line for the exhibit inside. “Even if it was six blocks long, I would wait for it,” Wray, 26, said of the line.

“His pieces are an expression of love and darkness,” Wray said of McQueen’s work. “I’ve never seen any dresses like it. I had to come see it.”

When Andy Rusch, of Inwood, joined the line — which was two blocks away and around the corner from the museum’s doors — he said he didn’t mind the hours-long wait ahead of him.

“We had a friend who waited five hours yesterday,” Rusch, 24, said, adding that he brought a book to help pass the time. “It’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

A security guard outside was still in awe of the throngs.

“These are crowds that I’ve never seen before,” he said. “This is crazy.”