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Hundreds line up for new identification card

By Madina Toure

New York City residents who want to get the new municipal ID will now have to sign up for an appointment in response to the high demand for the card since it was formally launched Tuesday. Residents have to make an appointment at the closest enrollment center by going online at www.nyc.gov/‌IDNYC or by calling 311. Walk-ins can also schedule appointments.

Pop-up enrollment sites will also start up soon to increase capacity. Two pop-up sites are scheduled to open in late January, followed eventually by another three sites.

“We are delighted to see such an incredible response to the launch of the IDNYC program,” Nisha Agrawal, commissioner for the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, said. “The demand says to us that New Yorkers all across the five boroughs are eager to get their card.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan) formally unveiled the IDNYC Tuesday morning at the Queens Public Library in downtown Flushing.

De Blasio said the program would give residents, particularly undocumented immigrants, more access to basic city services.

“This is a great place to talk about what’s happening all over the city,” de Blasio said at the news conference, pointing out there are “17 locations like this where people are going today to apply for their municipal ID, IDNYC. This is a historic day because for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, this will be the first time they can get any kind of ID.”

Mark-Viverito said the law ensures that all New Yorkers are treated fairly and equally.

“It’s an affirmation that if you live here, that if you pay taxes, and if you send your kids to school here, you are a New Yorker,” she said.

The card will be accepted by all city agencies. To apply for the cards, residents must present proof of identity and residency. The cards will be sent to their home address within two weeks.

City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), who was at the ceremony, was the lead sponsor for the bill. City Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing), U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing), Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) were also present.

City residents ages 14 and up are eligible for the card.

Enrollment is free this year. There are 17 permanent enrollment centers throughout the five boroughs. Residents will not be asked about their immigration status when signing up for municipal IDs.

Only individuals who pop up in the database of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control may be disqualified from applying for the card.

The law has also been praised for its consideration of groups such as transgender individuals in foster care, formerly incarcerated people and veterans. IDNYC will also be accepted as valid primary identification for opening a bank or credit union account at more than 10 financial institutions.

Benefits include free one-year membership packages at 33 of the city’s cultural institutions as well as entertainment discounts on movie tickets, Broadway shows, sporting events and theme parks.

The legislation, signed into law July 10, allowed the city to start giving out the cards Jan. 10. The Human Resources Administration is overseeing the initiative.

Meng praised the de Blasio administration for introducing the municipal ID, but she described the card as just a first step in the right direction.

“This is not a solution or the end-all for what is really necessary, which is comprehensive immigration reform,” she said. “I’ve only been in Congress for two years so I still remain hopeful and optimistic. We will at some point get it done.”

The law hit close to home for Mexican native and Jackson Heights resident Esther Sanchez Morales, 42, who has been living in Queens for 13 years.

“Today is very important for me and for people like me that for a long time have been living in the city without an official ID,” Sanchez said tearfully in Spanish. “I am very grateful for the opportunity that the country and the city have given me. I want to contribute to this city.”