The best deals you can get with your IDNYC right now

In a time of rampant cynicism about governments local and national, if the city were doing something unambiguously positive that helped out undocumented and housed New Yorkers, and offered everyone a bunch of cool free stuff, surely they’d shout that from the rooftops … right? Not so much. So this week, we’re here to tell you that though it’s much less talked about these days, the IDNYC program is still alive and well, and comes with a lot of built-in benefits for the budget-minded New Yorker.

I was reminded of this a couple weeks back, when I got an automated email alerting me that my IDNYC was up for renewal, complete with deals for discounted membership at the YMCA, discounted groceries, $2 Partners Coffee (!), membership at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and special ticket offers at Carnegie Hall, to name just a few. I eagerly signed up for a city ID when they first became available, but I’ve long since stopped carrying it and forgot about all the potential deals that come along with it, to be frank. I’m willing to bet that I’m not the only New Yorker who can’t remember where my card even is these days, let alone the last time I actually used it.

Some brief backstory: the IDNYC program was launched in 2015 during the prime Mayor Bill de Blasio years, the idea being that the cards would make life easier for undocumented and unhoused New Yorkers who struggled to navigate city services without another form of valid government ID. (If that all sounds hopelessly idealistic and quaint from a 2024 standpoint, well, there’s a reason sentimentality for the de Blasio administration has been on the rise of late.) The cards conferred deals and discounts on everything from prescription drugs to gyms to library and museum memberships, and widespread adoption was encouraged, the idea being that if a large plurality of people got them, it would prevent any potential stigma around use of the city IDs. Even “woke” Pope Francis got one!

IDNYC never went away, but it’s a marquee program from a previous mayoral administration, and it’s not exactly getting as much promotion in the Adams era (our current mayor is presumably more focused on falsely claiming that the city’s undocumented aren’t entitled constitutional rights). To wit: when we poked around the current IDNYC website, the most recent full benefits guide we found was from 2022, and other lists like the Museum and Culture Institution Benefits page claim to be current as of 2023. The page is also littered with dead program links to the IDNYC pages of individual institutions like BAM. (The Mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment by press time.)

But good news: just because the IDNYC website is crusty and expired doesn’t mean the actual benefits are. We called around, and anecdotally, every institution we spoke to confirmed that they’re still honoring IDNYC deals such as discounted products, discounted tickets, and free or discounted memberships. You can poke around the outdated-but-still-useful benefits website here, and keep more updated tabs via IDNYC’s Twitter account here (they were offering steep discounts to the Chelsea Film Festival back in October, for instance). 

You can apply for a new card, replace a lost one or renew an existing one at this link, and below, we’ve rounded up a few of the more exciting deals to scope out once you’ve got your bonafide-city-slicker ID card in hand:

• Partners Coffee: Easily one of the most useful day-to-day options; if you flash your IDNYC at any Partners location in the city, you can get a small cold brew or small hot drip coffee for just $2.
• Food Bazaar: An IDNYC confers a 5% discount on groceries at Food Bazaar locations Monday-Friday between 7am and 7pm, a deal repeatedly advertised on the IDNYC Instagram grid. In this inflationary environment, that’s nothing to sneeze at.
• KidPass: IDNYC cardholders can claim 80% off their first month of KidPass (normally $49/month), a portal for finding and booking activities like swimming lessons and music classes.
• YMCA and the New York City Parks Department: Cardholders can claim a 15% discount on family and adult YMCA memberships, and a 10% discount on NYC Parks Recreation Center memberships, two of the most affordable and slept-on ways to get swimming pool access in this city.
• BAM: An IDNYC can nab you a “Level 1” membership to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, which comes with perks including discounted subscription access and 50% off movie tickets.
• The Bronx Zoo: With a city ID in hand, admission for one adult is free.
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MOMA PS1 and the Museum of the City of New York: At all three institutions, an IDNYC will get you a free annual membership.
• Libraries: You can use an IDNYC to sign up for a library card in the New York, Brooklyn and Queens library systems, and it’s the only card that’s accepted at all three systems. Major bonus: once you’ve got a library card in hand, you’re eligible for Culture Pass, an also excellent and very slept-on program that offers library cardholders free passes to cultural institutions across the city, such as the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Bronx Children’s Museum.
• Housing Connect: Not a “deal” per se, but an IDNYC is all you need to apply for affordable housing via NYC Housing Connect; any New Yorker over the age of 18 is eligible, regardless of immigration status.