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Press Release

Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs and New York Public Library Launch Permanent IDNYC Entrollment Center at Staten Island's St. George Branch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 8, 2017
CONTACT: mediabox@moia.nyc.gov, 646-343-7164

Enrollment center replacing Department of Finance location to meet New Yorkers where they work, learn and play

STATEN ISLAND—The Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs' Acting Commissioner Bitta Mostofi and the IDNYC team today joined Project Hospitality, the Dream Action Coalition, and El Centro del Inmigrante, and community leaders to launch a permanent IDNYC enrollment center with New York Public Library at NYPL's St. George Branch in Staten Island. The new permanent enrollment center will be open Monday through Thursday from 9-5 PM, and Friday from 10-5 PM. Applications will be available in more than 25 languages at the enrollment center, including Spanish, Russian and Italian.

"More than one million New Yorkers have obtained IDNYC to pick up their child from school, interact with local government and law enforcement, open a bank account, and explore the five boroughs on a budget. Today, we bring it one step closer to Staten Islanders," said Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs' Acting Commissioner Bitta Mostofi. "Thank you to New York Public Library for providing IDNYC a new home at their St. George branch."

"With a convenient location close to dozens of public transit routes and a new parking garage, the St. George Library is an ideal location for Staten Islanders to sign up for an IDNYC," said Council Member Debi Rose. "This municipal ID card comes with a host of benefits, offering cardholders discounted access to so many of the cultural institutions that help make our city the greatest in the world. I was proudly among the first to sign up for an IDNYC, and I will continue to encourage my constituents to do the same by reminding them they can sign up at the St. George Library."

"The New York Public Library's St. George Library Center is proud to be the home of the first IDNYC enrollment center at a Staten Island branch, joining the Grand Central branch in Manhattan and the Bronx Library Center as IDNYC sites within our system," said Christopher Platt, Chief Branch Library Officer of New York Public Library. "Our system has long served as a welcoming institution for all New Yorkers and the IDNYC program continues to align with our mission of serving our entire community."

"The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art strives to bring the art and culture of Tibet to the residents of New York City," said Meg Ventrudo, Executive Director of the Jacques Marches Museum of Tibetan Art. "We hope that more IDNYC members will join the museum and experience our cultural treasures."

The new enrollment center will replace the permanent enrollment center at Staten Island Department of Finance, which was closed at the end of October. By hosting the IDNYC enrollment center at the St. George Library, the City is better able to directly connect with New Yorkers where they learn, work and play. The St. George library offers a multitude of resources to Staten Island's diverse residents, including NYCitizenship services, which provides free application legal assistance and financial counseling for immigrants who want to get on a pathway to citizenship. This summer, the de Blasio Administration, in collaboration with private partners, nearly doubled the funding for NYCitizenship to $1.6 million, which allowed the City to expand services in all 5 boroughs, including the first site on Staten Island.

This IDNYC enrollment center will serve as an even more critical community hub by hosting an ACCESS HRA self-service desk onsite, connecting New Yorkers directly with information on, and applications for, essential benefits. ACCESS HRA desks allow New Yorkers to manage their public benefits online through ACCESS HRA, a web-based client portal. By creating an ACCESS HRA account, individuals can apply for and recertify SNAP benefits, recertify for Cash Assistance, view their Medicaid coverage status, as well as manage payments, appointments, documents, and information of existing cases. ACCESS HRA is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Haitian Creole, Russian, and Arabic. IDNYC staff will assist New Yorkers in navigating ACCESS HRA, and direct individuals to other HRA resources, such as HRA Infoline, a SNAP Center, or a Job Center – which have access to telephonic interpretation services in 180 languages. ACCESS HRA desks enhance IDNYC's ability to respond to the needs of communities across the city, particularly low-income and vulnerable populations.

In addition, next week, IDNYC will open a temporary "pop-up" enrollment site at El Centro del Inmigrante in Port Richmond. This pop-up enrollment site will be open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM from Tuesday, November 14, 2017 to Wednesday, November 22, 2017. IDNYC is proud to open this pop-up site with support from Council Member Debi Rose, Community Health Center of Richmond, Community Health Action of Staten Island, La Colmena, Make the Road New York, and Catholic Charities of Staten Island.

IDNYC is the key to the city for more than 1.2 million New Yorkers. Under the leadership of Mayor Bill de Blasio, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and the City Council, the City's municipal ID program is committed to increasing access to IDNYC for all New Yorkers. IDNYC has approximately 20 permanent enrollment centers across the city as well as an ongoing series of temporary "pop-up" enrollment sites to reach New Yorkers in every corner of the five boroughs.

All City residents age 14 and above are eligible to get a municipal ID card, and enrollment is free for anyone who applies in 2017. IDNYC has a wide array of benefit partners across the city that make entertainment options, sporting events, zoos and museums, among others, cheaper and more accessible to New Yorkers. A full list of benefit partners is available on IDNYC's website. All IDNYC applicants must have documentation that proves identity and residency in New York City. The City is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of all IDNYC card applications. For more information on eligibility criteria, benefits, enrollment centers across the five boroughs and more, applicants can visit nyc.gov/IDNYC or call 311.