New York City rolled out its new official municipal ID cards yesterday. The highly anticipated IDNYC cards are expected to empower homeless persons and undocumented immigrants who lack official ID, but are also sure to be hugely popular among art lovers.

“For New Yorkers who couldn't have an official ID, this card is the key to a fuller life," mayor Bill de Blasio promised in a statement, calling IDNYC “fraud-proof, secure, and appealing to anyone."

News of the ID card's impending arrival was announced over the summer, but the tantalizing prospect of free museum admission wasn't finalized until September (see Free Museum Memberships for New York City ID Card Holders and Will NYC's New ID Cards Grant Free Museum Admission?).

The Cultural Institutions Group (CIG) will offer all cardholders who sign up during 2015 free one-year memberships to its 33 member institutions, which include Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of the Moving Image, MoMA PS1, and the Brooklyn Museum. The card won't renew an existing museum membership or one that has lapsed since 2012, but it will otherwise offer the full benefits conferred on members.

The new municipal-identification program will be the largest in the country. In addition to the considerable cultural perks, the card will allow book lovers of all stripes to borrow books from the New York Public Library, Queens Library, and Brooklyn Public Library. It will also offer prescription drug discounts, and will be accepted as ID at several banks and credit unions, at city services and programs, and by the police department.

Applicants must be at least 14 years of age, and are required to provide documentation of their identity and city residency.