NEW YORK — New York City's residents and business owners will soon be able to give their websites a Big Apple makeover.
City officials announced Tuesday that a new .nyc domain would become available at the end of the year, enabling locals to register new websites clearly connected to New York City and replacing the domains that traditionally end web addresses, like .com, .org or .edu. New York City is one of the first cities in the world to be approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers for a geographic top-level domain.
“Pursuing the .nyc top-level domain has been a goal of Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg’s Digital Roadmap from the start, and this caliber of innovation keeps New York City on track to becoming the world’s leading digital city,” Rachel Haot, the city's chief digital officer, said in a statement.
Officials hailed the new .nyc domain name as benefiting both companies and consumers, because it will clearly show that a business or service is located in New York City.
With .nyc, small businesses can better “identify their local roots,” City Councilwoman Gale Brewer said, identifying with what Bloomberg called “one of the world’s strongest and most prestigious brands.”
The new domain name will generate millions of dollars in revenue for the city, because the city will receive 40 percent of the revenue generated by the sale of web addresses in the .nyc domain, officials said.
To receive a .nyc domain, registrants must show a primary place of residence, office or “other facility” in one of the five boroughs, officials said. The registration process will begin later this year.
