Secretary-General Lauds New York City Identification Card at Sign-Up Event

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks for idNYC pop-up booth event as prepared for delivery, in New York today:

Mayor [Bill] de Blasio, it is a pleasure to welcome you once again to United Nations Headquarters.  Today we join hands with our great host City for a very special initiative — by hosting a pop-up registration site for New York City’s new municipal identification card.

It is called idNYC, it is free, and soon I will have my very own idNYC.  After more than eight years of calling New York home, I will finally be able to say that I am a New Yorker.

Mrs. Ban [Soon-taek] tells me that she wants an idNYC, too.  She must have heard that it can give you free one-year membership at many of the City's museums, zoos, concert halls and gardens.

This is a great initiative.  It is very practical and will benefit many young people and the diplomatic community living in New York in particular.  I hope that our United Nations staff who need ID will register as I have just done.  I wish this scheme great success.