New York City and The United Nations Partner-up on IDNYC

June 15, 2015

NEW YORK— To celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the United Nations, the de Blasio Administration today announced that the United Nations will host a pop-up registration site for New York City’s municipal ID, IDNYC. The site will open on June 29 for delegates from Permanent Missions and United Nations staff to register for IDNYC.

“New York City and the United Nations are positively and inextricably connected. Both are global experiments in democracy, diversity and promoting human dignity,” said Penny Abeywardena, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs. “Our precedent-setting partnership with the Secretary-General’s office to facilitate UN staff and delegates to the United Nations, who are city residents, in obtaining IDNYC cards reinforces this bond on an individual level and reemphasizes New York’s indispensable role as home to the United Nations.”

“This is an excellent reflection of the neighborly relationship between the United Nations and its host city of New York”, said Yukio Takasu, UN Under-Secretary-General for Management. “The UN is grateful for its long partnership with the City, and we are committed to contributing to the local communities where our staff members live and raise their families.” 

“The United Nations community comes to New York from all around the world, just like so many residents of this great city. IDNYC shows that we are all New Yorkers – and I look forward to getting mine,” said Cristina Gallach, UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information.

IDNYC is a free identification card for all New York City residents, allowing us to celebrate who we are – New Yorkers. As a government-issued photo identification card, IDNYC secures the peace of mind and access to City services that come from having recognized identification. IDNYC benefits every city resident, including the most vulnerable communities – the homeless, youth, the elderly, undocumented immigrants, the formerly incarcerated and individuals who may have difficulty obtaining other government-issued ID.

“Because these cards help all New Yorkers access crucial City services regardless of immigration and income status, or homelessness, they are a local expression of the key global equity principles enshrined in the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a number of other UN conventions,” said Nisha Agarwal, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigration Affairs.

The card can be presented as proof of identification when interacting with NYC public safety officers and is an accepted form of identification for opening a bank account at a dozen financial institutions across the city. IDNYC also streamlines access to the New York, Brooklyn, and Queens Public Library Systems in a single card. Cardholders may also sign up for a free one-year membership at 33 of the city’s leading cultural institutions, zoos, and botanical gardens. 

The UN campus pop-up enrollment center will be open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. between June 29 and July 10. Enrollment will take 10-20 minutes and appointments can be booked in advance online. The program will do its best to accommodate walk-ins, but applicants are highly encouraged to schedule an appointment to avoid a long wait.

“We want as many New Yorkers as possible to have IDNYC cards in their wallets,” said Hillary Schrenell, Deputy Commissioner for Strategic Partnerships at the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs. “There are over 6,700 staff at the UN, many of whom are eligible for municipal cards. Establishing an enrollment site on the UN campus is a strategic, low-resource way of targeting thousands of diverse New Yorkers from all five boroughs every day, and strengthens the ties between New York City and our resident diplomatic community.” 

The UN campus IDNYC site is part of a broader effort by the de Blasio administration to reinvigorate the relationship between New York City and the world’s largest resident international community to better serve New Yorkers. New York City hosts 193 Permanent Missions to the UN, 115 Consulates, the United Nations’ Headquarters and many of the world’s leading international foundations and civil society organizations.

Through its Connecting Local to Global initiatives, the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs is facilitating over 100 partnerships between consulates and the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence and the Office of Immigrant Affairs since the start of 2015. Consulates are now helping to educate diaspora communities about the services available to domestic violence survivors in New York City, and the benefits of the municipal ID program.

The de Blasio administration is collaborating with the UN beyond IDNYC to create a more just and equitable city for all New Yorkers. In November 2015 New York City became the first U.S. city to join UN Women’s Safe Cities Global Initiative to improve safety for women and girls in public spaces. In July 2015, the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs will partner with the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in honor of the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, to bring the story of NYC’s experience with the Americans with Disabilities Act into the halls of the UN with a visual display and panel. In the coming months, the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs in collaboration with the Office of Sustainability will bring together UN and diplomatic officials for a series of workshops and trainings on OneNYC, the City’s comprehensive environmental and economic sustainability plan, and a model for nations around the world to develop ways to take up the new international development agenda.

“New York City’s partnership with the UN and the broader diplomatic community on IDNYC is a meaningful way to begin celebrating seven decades of the UN in New York” said Commissioner Abeywardena. “It is also a symbol of the importance New York places on innovative partnerships to promote the welfare of New Yorkers. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our relationship.”