ID NYC: Museum and Other Benefits Extended Thru 2016!

Last April, I excitedly wrote about the new ID NYC card (See, I Applied for an IDNYC Card).

I noted that, as a special incentive for people to register for the ID NYC card, various special benefits, including free one year memberships to various museums are being offered to new applicants.  This got not only my attention, but the attention of many other bloggers and applicants, and we hurried to get our ID cards.  Voila.

And then, do you know what I did with my card?  Do you know all the museum memberships I signed up for?

None. I did exactly nothing.  And I bet I’m not the only one!

So, I was happy to learn that New York City is now giving applicants through 2016 to claim their free memberships and other benefits.  Originally, one-year memberships were offered for free at 33 institutions, including the New York Botanical Garden and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Seven more institutions have been added to the list, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art.  Additionally, ID NYC holders are eligible for  certain discounted tickets and memberships, including Citi Bike (see, DNAInfo.com –  You Now Have all of 2016 to Claim Your Free Museum and Zoo Memberships).

I note that memberships must be activated at each participating institution.  In fact, the only museum that I contacted about membership was the Brooklyn Museum.  They informed me, however, that I wasn’t eligible for the one-year membership because I was previously a member of their museum.  I was both confused and disheartened by this – which likely my failure to do anything further.

Anyway, with the extension of time to activate the card benefits, maybe now I will actually utilize the special incentives of this card?