FREE museum admission with NYC ID card

POSTED BY
Evelyn Kanter

Get your FREE New York City Identification Card to get FREE admission at more than 40 top NYC museums, zoos and botanical gardens, shopping discounts, even check out library books. The IDNYC card is for New York City residents only – sorry visitors – since it requires proof of residency to get one.

The program was launched in 2015 as a way to give us New Yorkers a way to cut the cost of culture, plus it’s a valid identification card for those who don’t have a driver’s license or other government identification with a photo.

So the IDNYC card can be used to help you open a bank account, get into a government building, and more.

The IDNYC card is a free pass for admission to top museums including The Guggenheim, the Museum of Modern Art, the New Museum, the Brooklyn Museum and the Studio Museum in Harlem. More than 670,000 New Yorkers applied for the card in 2015, so you are in good company.

If you are not a NYC resident, or if you haven’t applied for an IDNYC card yet, you can visit museums FREE on specific days and times. Here’s when and where.

Any NYC resident over 14 can get an IDNYC card, and enrollment is free. And do it soon, since you have only until the end of 2016 to get the card.

See the complete list of benefits here, including how to apply. Or, do what I did:

One of the most efficient places to apply is at the Mid-Manhattan Library, across Fifth Avenue from the main branch with the stone lions out front. That’s where I applied after making an appointment by calling 311, the city’s information number.

It took five minutes on the phone and 15 minutes at a special section in the library to do the paperwork and have my photo taken.

The laminated card arrives in the mail 10 days to two weeks later, and you can start using it immediately.

Be sure to bring adequate proof of residency – a NY State driver’s license with your address will do it. If you don’t have a driver’s license, a US Passport plus a rent or utility bill to prove your address will work, too.