20170611-release-haitiantps - MOIA

Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs


Press Release


City Leaders Announce New IDNYC Pop-Up Site at United Sherpa Association

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 31, 2017
CONTACT: mediabox@moia.nyc.gov, 212-676-3013

Latest IDNYC pop-up site will be the first to have applications available in Tibetan and Nepali languages

NEW YORK—The Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs and the Human Resources Administration, alongside Council Member Daniel Dromm, the United Sherpa Association, the Mayor's Community Affairs Unit and organizations from Himalayan communities in New York City announced today the opening of an IDNYC pop-up enrollment site hosted at the United Sherpa Association in Woodside, Queens. This pop-up is open to the public and is well-situated to serve some of the estimated 50,000 New Yorkers from the Himalayan regions of Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and northern India.

In addition, this site will be the first to have applications available in the Tibetan and Nepali languages as a part of the City's sustained commitment to language access, inclusion and civic engagement in all of our city's diverse communities.

"Hosting an IDNYC pop-up site at the United Sherpa Association perfectly fits with our mission to make New York more accessible for our immigrant communities," said Nisha Agarwal, Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs. We are glad to partner with Himalayan community organizations to bring IDNYC right to where New Yorkers live and we are proud that we will provide IDNYC applications in Tibetan and Nepali for the first time, making IDNYC more available to New Yorkers in the languages they speak."

"As negative rhetoric against immigrants and refugees continues at the federal level, this is an example of New York City expanding and bringing resources directly to these communities," said Marco Carrion, Commissioner of the Mayor's Community Affairs Unit. "We are proud to partner with the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, Council Member Daniel Dromm, and our community partners to release IDNYC applications in Tibetan and Nepali and host a pop-up enrollment site in Woodside, Queens to service members of New York's rapidly growing Himalayan communities."

"Having a pop-up IDNYC enrollment center at the United Sherpa Association is great news for the Woodside community," said NYC Council Member Daniel Dromm, lead sponsor of the legislation that created the identification card. "This pop up will make the identification card more accessible for local seniors and residents with mobility issues who no longer have to travel outside of their neighborhood in order to enroll in the program. IDNYC grants cardholders access to many programs and services that would otherwise be inaccessible to them, such as renting an apartment, acquiring prescriptions drugs and picking up children from school. I encourage all New Yorkers to apply for their card today."

IDNYC is the key to the city for more than 1 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 26 permanent enrollment centers as well as a series of rolling pop-up enrollment sites, with the latest being hosted by the United Sherpa Association. This pop-up builds on the City's prior engagements with Himalayan communities. In June 2016, hundreds of members of Queens' rapidly growing Himalayan communities gathered for a first-of-its-kind town hall with City agencies and the Mayor's Office.

"We are proud to partner with the Mayor's Office to launch this IDNYC pop-up enrollment site. New York now speaks Nepali and Tibetan," said Urgen Sherpa, President of the United Sherpa Association. "With the publishing of IDNYC applications in Nepali and Tibetan, we can now speak our own language, for the first time, fill out government forms in our own language, and be a proud New Yorkers. We encourage our members to get the most out of IDNYC."

IDNYC has a wide array of benefit partners. 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. 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.

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.