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Throngs rush to get NYC IDs, causing waits as residents seek cards loaded with benefits

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2015 file photo, Veronica Ramirez, originally from Mexico, holds her 15-month-old son, Lora, while waiting in line to apply for a municipal identification card on the first day they were available at the Bronx Library Center, in the Bronx borough of New York. A municipal ID program that city officials thought would draw a few hundred thousand people in its first year has been much more popular than anticipated, with New Yorkers waiting hours in line and months for appointments to register. City officials have scrambled to keep up with the demand. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2015 file photo, people wait in line to apply for municipal identification cards on the first day they were available at the Bronx Library Center, in the Bronx borough of New York. A municipal ID program that city officials thought would draw a few hundred thousand people in its first year has been much more popular than anticipated, with New Yorkers waiting hours in line and months for appointments to register. City officials have scrambled to keep up with the demand. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2015 file photo, Mumin Miah, left, originally from Bangladesh, has his picture taken for a municipal identification card on the first day they were available at the Bronx Library Center, in the Bronx borough of New York. A municipal ID program that city officials thought would draw a few hundred thousand people in its first year has been much more popular than anticipated, with New Yorkers waiting hours in line and months for appointments to register. City officials have scrambled to keep up with the demand. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) (The Associated Press)

NEW YORK – The long lines to sign up for New York City's popular municipal ID cards may be gone but the wait for an appointment remains lengthy for city residents who want to enroll.

New York City officials figured it would be a good first year if 250,000 to 300,000 people signed up. But city residents have made more than 240,000 appointments in just the first month.

More than 30,000 people have already been enrolled, and have either received their cards or are waiting for them to come in the mail.

The success rate of the cards since they became available Jan. 12 caught the city off guard. Officials have scrambled to open more processing centers to cut wait times, which in some sites still extends into the summer months.