12/14/2015
By Ivan Pereira
New York’s hundreds of thousands of municipal ID card holders will have access to a wider scope of cultural institutions and discounts for New York services come next year.
The city announced that the IDNYC program will provide free one-year memberships to seven additional cultural institutions in 2016, including the MoMA, the Metropolitan Opera and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The venues join 33 museums, art spaces and other locations that are currently offered as an incentive for geting the card.
More than 670,000 people have signed up for IDNYC and about 160,000 cultural memberships have been claimed since its launch in January, the city said. Its aim was to New Yorkers, including immigrants not here legally, an easier, accessible form of identification. Applicants must be over 14, and provide proof of identity, such as a passport, visa or Social Security card; and show proof of New York City residency, such as a utility bill.
“The first year of IDNYC has demonstrated the broad appeal behind one powerful idea: that all residents should have equal access to the full range of benefits that come with being a New Yorker,” acting Cultural Affairs Commissioner Edwin Torres said in a statement.
The card will also give users discounts to Citi Bike, tickets to the New York City Football Club, the New York Theatre Ballet and Ballet School, among other places. Representatives from NYIDC’s partner programs said they were eager to continue offering the free memberships to their venues.
The card is recognized by the NYPD, government offices, 75 banks and financial institutions and other locations that ask for a valid government photo ID. Log onto nyc.gov/idnyc or call 311 for more information on applying.
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The seven cultural institutions that will offer free, one-year memberships with IDNYC for the first time next year:
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
The Museum of Modern Art
The New Museum
The Metropolitan Opera
The Museum of Chinese in America
BRIC Arts | Media
Pregones Theater
The other venues that will continue to offer one year memberships as well.
American Museum of Natural History
Bronx County Historical Society
Bronx Museum of the Arts
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Brooklyn Museum
Carnegie Hall
New York City Ballet
El Museo del Barrio
Flushing Town Hall
Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum of Jewish Heritage
Museum of the City of New York
Museum of the Moving Image
New York Botanical Garden
City Center
New York Hall of Science
MoMA P.S. 1
Public Theater
Queens Botanical Garden
Queens Museum
Queens Theatre in the Park
Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden
Staten Island Children’s Museum
Staten Island Historical Society
Staten Island Museum
Staten Island Zoo
Studio Museum in Harlem
Wave Hill
Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo
Alliance of Resident Theatres / New York
New York Football Club
New York Pass
New York Theatre Ballet
Roundabout Theatre Company
Big Apple RX
Food Bazaar
NYC Parks Department
YMCA
