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Press Release

Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs and Council Member Fernando Cabrera Launch IDNYC "Pop-Up" Enrollment Site in Morris Heights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 1, 2017
CONTACT: mediabox@moia.nyc.gov, 646-343-7164

THE BRONX—The Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs' Director of Organizing Laurie Davidson and the IDNYC team today joined community leaders to launch a "pop-up" IDNYC enrollment site with Council Member Fernando Cabrera at Church of the Holy Spirit in Morris Heights. This pop-up enrollment site will be open Monday through Friday from 9-5 PM until Thursday, September 7. Applications will be available in more than 25 languages at the enrollment site, including Spanish, French and Bengali.

This pop-up enrollment site – located at 1940 University Avenue – makes IDNYC and City resources more accessible to the communities they serve, including Dominican, Bengali and West African New Yorkers. The Bronx's Dominican immigrant community has grown by more than 30,000 since 2000 and the West African immigrant community has increased by over 19,000 in the same period. Across the city, from 2000 to 2015, the Bangladeshi immigrant community grew by 92 percent, the largest percentage growth among the city's top 10 largest immigrant communities.

"More than one million New Yorkers have now enrolled in this free city identification program which protects our most vulnerable citizens – elderly, disabled, homeless, formerly incarcerated and immigrants – providing access to New York City services," said Council Member Fernando Cabrera.  "Enrolling in IDNYC is particularly important in this community, which is more than 70 percent Hispanic, the majority of whom are Dominicans and which also has growing Bengali and West African populations."   

"IDNYC is a demonstration of New York City values in action, opening doors in our city to over 1 million cardholders," said Laurie Davidson, Organizing Director at the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs. "This pop-up enrollment site at Church of the Holy Spirit will allow even more Morris Heights residents to get their IDNYC. We are so thankful to Reverend Fajardo for his help in hosting the pop-up enrollment site at Church of the Holy Spirit and to Council Member Cabrera for sponsoring this pop-up in his district."

IDNYC is the key to the city for more than 1,070,000 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 26 permanent enrollment centers as well as a series of pop-up enrollment sites.

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 will protect the confidentiality of all IDNYC card applications and will not ask applicants about their immigration status. For more information on eligibility criteria, benefits, enrollment centers across the five boroughs and more, applicants can visit nyc.gov/idnyc or call 311.

"IDNYC is government-issued photo identification for all New York City residents. IDNYC benefits all residents of this community, including homeless individuals, youth, elders, and undocumented immigrants," said Reverend Ricardo Fajardo, Church of the Holy Spirit. "The importance that the IDNYC pop-up has to the Church of the Holy Spirit is that parishioners and the whole community can obtain IDNYC more conveniently and comfortably. IDNYC offers a lot of benefits, services and programs. It works to enter public buildings, such as, schools, libraries,  people can also open bank accounts, obtain discounts for: prescribed medications, supermarkets, such as the Food Bazaar, movie theaters, museums, and cultural institutions, concert halls, botanical gardens, sports and entertainment."

"IDNYC serves as identification for people that live in New York City, including documented and undocumented immigrants, and it offers a number of benefits that cardholders can use for a wide variety of organizations," said Héctor Ramírez, Community Leader and Coordinator at Holy Spirit Social Pastoral Committee. "It is very important for Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church to host an IDNYC pop-up site, a social good for the whole community. This is part of the social work the church has been trying to implement in the community of the West Bronx. Other programs that the Church has successfully developed are a seminar with the Department of Education for child care providers and free English-language and citizenship application classes."

About MOIA

The NYC Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs promotes the well-being of NYC's immigrant communities by recommending policies and managing programs that help to successfully integrate immigrant New Yorkers into the civic, economic, and cultural life of the City. For more information on all MOIA services, go to nyc.gov/immigrants, call 311, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.