IDNYC pop-up enrollment center launches in Bensonhurst

Pop in to a pop-up site.

Communities all over the five boroughs are reaping the benefits of IDNYC—the city’s newest municipal identification program open to all New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status.

Including benefits like free one-year memberships to 40 cultural institutions across the city, health and fitness discounts and even banking benefits, the IDNYC card already boasts 730,000 enrollees in its first year alone, making it the country’s largest municipal ID program—a program that has become even more accessible to the public thanks to pop-up enrollment sites.

“In terms of pop-ups and permanent enrollment sites, right now we have more than 29 throughout the five boroughs,” said Sona Rai, a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs at the launch of a pop-up enrollment center at Bensonhurst’s Asian Community United Society (ACUS) on Thursday, February 4. “It’s really important for us to be in the communities in which New Yorkers live.”

According to the mayor’s office, the city does not ask applicants for information about their immigration status when signing up for the card. In order to enroll, applicants must provide proof of identity and residency. A New York State driver’s license, for instance, will provide proof of both—serving as the only documentation needed when applying.

Other accepted forms of identity include a U.S. or foreign passport, a U.S. state driver’s license, a green card, a certificate of citizenship or current U.S. work permit. Other forms accepted for proof of residency include a cable, phone or utility bill, a residential property lease, a recent bank account statement or a recent employment pay stub, among others.

“By having pop-up sites, it gives us more opportunities to co-locate with resources and centers that are important to the community, and ACUS is exactly that. So, it really demonstrates why IDNYC has been so successful,” said Rai. “We’ve really gone deep into communities and are looking at the sites that are already part of the day-to-day life of everyone in the community.”

Brooklynites can set up their appointment at the Bensonhurst site (6506 Bay Parkway) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. through January 19. Appointments can be made by visiting www.nyc.gov/idnyc or by calling 311.

Other enrollment sites in Brooklyn include the Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Branch at Grand Army Plaza, the Coney Island IDNYC Center at 2865 West Eighth Street, the Brooklyn Business Center at 210 Joralemon Street, and St. Michael’s Church at 345 43rd Street.