New York City announced that it will seek the .NYC web address, making it the first U.S. city to seek a top-level domain. New York City now joins Barcelona, Berlin, London, Paris and Rome as a global city applying for its own web address.
Paul J. Cosgrave, the Commissioner of New York City’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT), announced New York City’s intention to apply for the .NYC top-level domain from ICANN. The .NYC effort has enjoyed long-time support from City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and from its earliest champion, Council Member Gale A. Brewer, Chair of the Council’s Technology in Government Committee. They all testified to the benefits of the new .NYC top-level domain for the businesses, organizations, and residents of New York City.
Former Mayor Ed Koch, who supports the dotNYC effort to operate .NYC on the city’s behalf, said on video: “.NYC is the best real estate deal since the Dutch bought Manhattan.”
dotNYC LLC, a private company that for the last year has been meeting with city officials about the plan for .NYC, is applying to become the city’s operating partner, working with Minds + Machines. dotNYC LLC congratulated the City in a press release about .NYC:
… .NYC will allow New York city residents, businesses, groups, government agencies and tourist attractions to register website names and have email addresses ending in .NYC – directly identifying themselves with the world’s leading city. Examples include: theater.nyc, pizza.nyc, blockparty.nyc, statueofliberty.nyc, yourname.nyc, yourbusinessname.nyc and millions more.
The story was covered in depth by the New York Post under the title City sets its sites on ‘.nyc’ Web domain. The Post called .NYC “the 21st-century equivalent of the 212 area code.” The Post article continues:
New York City is on the verge of getting its very own Internet domain that will give area Web sites the option of putting an “.nyc” rather than a “.com” at the end of their addresses…. New York City is the first American city to announce its intention to land its very own top-level domain…. Officials believe the domain will give New York City businesses a leg up and also generate much-needed revenue for city coffers.
Commissioner Cosgrave talked about how .NYC will make it easier to access information:
Each day the Internet serves as an essential tool in the lives of an increasing number of New Yorkers, helping inform the ways they live, learn and play. Through .nyc, we hope to make the search for New York City-related content easier than ever by providing individuals, organizations, non-profits and others a chance to own a virtual piece of the greatest city in the world.”
Speaker Quinn spoke about the impact of the NYC brand on the Internet:
A top-level City needs a top level domain, that’s why finding a partner to join the City in making .nyc a reality for small businesses in New York is vitally important. Once the .nyc program is launched, local business owners will be able to uniquely associate themselves and their business with their home, and the NYC brand.
Council Member Brewer talked about the impact on small businesses:
New York City, like many of its global competitors, plans to apply for a top level domain name. I hope that this TLD will assist local merchants based in New York City to be able to brand their businesses as located in the five boroughs. The small business community is a vital part of the New York City economy and any opportunity to increase their exposure while facilitating easy searching online is a step forward. I applaud the Mayor for applying for .nyc and I look forward to seeing this TLD attached to my local bakery or dry cleaner.
New York City municipal leaders, elected and appointed, clearly understand the benefits of the .NYC top-level domain for the City, and have spoken out unequivocally. This important announcement should prompt other cities, and businesses, to start thinking seriously about their own top-level domain strategy.
