Photo: Mayor Bill de Blasio and Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito announced last week that over 100,000 New Yorkers have applied for the IDNYC program, with 35,000 of those applicants in Queens. Here, de Blasio holds up his new IDNYC card at an event launching the program in January. The cards will be free for the first year and will expire after five years. Photo Courtesy of William Alatriste for the New York City Council.
Already since the program’s inception in January of this year, over 80,000 New Yorkers possess new city-issued identity cards, out of more than 100,000 New Yorkers who signed up to get them. Of the five boroughs, Queens has processed the largest number of applications, totaling nearly 35,000. Possibly a reflection of the high volume of applications being handled in the borough, the enrollment website at idnyc.appointment-plus.com indicates only one enrollment center in Queens (located at the Corona DOHMH) taking appointments before July.
IDNYC has been touted as the most ambitious municipal identification program in the country. It was March 30, just 77 days after the program began, that the 100,000th application was filed. The de Blasio administration’s first quarterly report on the program was released last week.
“I am proud to report that in the first three months of the program, we have rapidly expanded our capacity to swiftly process applications from over 100,000 New Yorkers across the five boroughs,” saidMayor de Blasio. “That’s thousands of New Yorkers that can now easily enter municipal buildings, take advantage of cultural and prescriptions benefits, and interact productively with the NYPD. We will continue to grow the program to create even greater access to government programs for our city’s residents.”
There are indeed notable benefits associated with the card. First, it serves as a valid access and entry to city programs and buildings. Banks and credit unions accept the card as viable ID for opening accounts. It is also a valid form of identification in interactions with the New York City Police Department: in the issuance of tickets, summonses, and property claims, IDNYC cards will be accepted, allowing police to avoid having to arrest violators unable to show proper ID. Up until recently, undocumented New Yorkers had no way of proving identity or residence in such circumstances. Immigrant or transgender residents of New York, or people who simply don’t possess driver’s licenses or passports, can now utilize the municipal ID for all the conveniences other forms of identification have long provided.
Beyond the more utilitarian purposes the IDNYC cards serve, a number of cultural benefits add extra appeal. Namely, the card serves as a single library membership for all public libraries in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. In addition, applicants who sign up for IDNYC before December 31 of this year receive free membership for a year to 33 institutions citywide, including zoos and museums. Discounts on Broadway shows, movie tickets, prescription drugs, recreation centers, and even groceries can currently be had by showing the card, with the likelihood that other programs, discounts, and benefits will come later.
“I’m thrilled with the tremendous success of IDNYC, a safe and secure program that provides enormous benefits to all New Yorkers,” said Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.
To apply for IDNYC, which will remain free of charge throughout this inaugural year, visit www.1.nyc.gov/site/idnyc/card/how-to-apply. A list of the required documents, the application, and the addresses of enrollment centers can all be found there. If the current availability of appointment slots at Queens centers is any indication, borough residents should not delay in applying.
By Eugénie Bisulco eugenie@theforumnewsgroup.com
