CORONA — The city has processed more than 100,000 applications for its new municipal identification card since the program began in January — and has had only two instances of possible fraud, records show.
The IDNYC program launched in January and officials released their first quarter report to Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council on Wednesday.
In just 10 weeks, New York's program has processed applications for more than one percent of the city's population — a feat places like Hartford and San Francisco took a year to do, the report says.
"The unprecedented demand for IDNYC reveals not only the urgency with which New Yorkers have needed this identification card, but also the confidence and trust that New Yorkers place in their municipal government," a letter signed by officials said.
The success, though, resulted in long lines and months-long wait times for the cards, particularly in Queens where 34,600 residents filed for the card by March 30 — the most in the city, the report says.
Nearly 15,000 Manhattan and 30,805 Brooklyn residents applied for cards, and the Bronx enrolled around 17,150.
Staten Island had the least number of applicants, signing up 3,500 people.
Since the launch, the IDNYC program has increased enrollment capacity three-fold, and 83,285 cards have been printed and mailed out. The rest are being processed, the report says.
Of those applicants there were two separate cases of possible fraud after the program found applicants tried to get an IDNYC card using another person's name and identifying documents, according to the report.
The victims were alerted and the applicants denied, officials said.
It's not clear if there were arrests or if charges were filed. The report didn't say which boroughs the possible fraud cases were.
To get the word out, the city has hosted 282 workshops, presentations and meetings, posted 2,260 subway advertisements and placed ads in 86 check cashing places and nail and hair salons, the report says. There were also PSAs running in 14,000 taxis.
Queens only had three registration centers at the start of the program, and later added a center in Corona and in Long Island City to supplement its Jackson Heights, Flushing and Jamaica locations.
