NEW YORK—Anyone with a physical address in New York City can now buy a .nyc web address on a “first-come, first served basis.” The public availability period for .nyc domains officially opened at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.
At the same time, on Wednesday, domain registrar companies, such as HelloDotNYC.com and GoDaddy, started processing the thousands of preregistration requests they received from New Yorkers between August 4 and October 3.
Each domain registrar can submit only one request to the official registry operator for .nyc at a time—so the first company or individual to attempt to register an address will win it. The domains will be available for use immediately after purchase.
Senior vice president and general manager of domains at GoDaddy, Mike McLaughlin said the .NYC domain name is the most popular new domain name extension launched to date.
“GoDaddy has already registered more than 10,000 domain names today for our customers, showing that New Yorkers understand the value of 21st Century Real Estate,” McLaughlin said via email.
Preregistration
Preregistration for a .nyc domain costs roughly $30 for a regular application, and $70 for a Landrush one. For customers who do not win their domain, a portion of their preregistration fee may not be refundable.
On Oct. 6, Landrush applicants were notified if they were the only applicant and thus won their domain. If there was more than one Landrush application for a particular address, the parties seeking the domain had to go to auction.
More than 10,000 New Yorkers, including small business owners, business improvement districts, and cultural institutions, already own their own .nyc domains after applying during the preregistration period, the city announced on Wednesday.
“Whether you’re an artist, a manufacturer, or a tech start-up, with .NYC you can make your mark on the global economy as a New Yorker,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement. “I’m thrilled to see thousands of New Yorkers and small businesses have already signed up for this unique home on the web, and I encourage everyone across the five boroughs to make .nyc their own.”
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved the city’s request for the .nyc top-level domain last July.
New York is now the only city in the nation that restricts ownership of its top-level domain addresses to residents with physical addresses inside its borders.
