.nyc is a proposed city-level top-level domain (TLD) for New York City.
On June 12, 2012 the city of New York submitted an application to ICANN for the .nyc TLD. And in August 2012 the city announced it was forming an advisory board to engage the public with the TLDs planning.
The first municipal support for the .nyc TLD was an Internet Empowerment Resolution passed by Queens Community Board 3, a local planning unit of the City of New York, on April 19, 2001. But it was not until June 2009 that this became a possibility when ICANN approved its New TLD Policy that allowed cities and other entities to apply for TLDs.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn indicated in her February 12, 2009 State of the City address that the city of New York would be supporting the acquisition of the .nyc TLD. On April 15, 2009 the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications issued a Request for Information (RFI) potentially leading towards the issuance of a Request for Proposals. Several entities responded to the April 2009 RFI including Connecting.nyc Inc., Dot NYC, and Name.Space. Connecting.nyc's comments are available online. On October 5, 2009 a Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued by the City of New York seeking a contractor to assist with the development and acquisition of the TLD. In April 2012 the city announced that NeuStar, Inc., a Virginia-based firm, had been selected from the RFP submissions.
Historically, Name.Space, founded by Paul Garrin, has been operating the .NYC top-level domain in its supplemental root since 1997 and applied for inclusion in the legacy root during the 2000 ICANN application process. The application was not decided upon and is currently pending before the ICANN board.
The proponents of the .nyc TLD have suggested that it offers a variety of benefits including: providing good domain names to improve tourism and marketing of local businesses, the creation of a series of public service web portals, a locally focused search engine, and a network fostering community between city residents. Connecting.nyc Inc., a New York State not-for-profit, arose from the 2001 Internet Empowerment Resolution and advocates for the TLD's acquisition as a public interest resource. Its mission is:
To promote civic, commercial, community, and cultural improvement in New York City through the acquisition, operation, and development of the Internet's .nyc top level domain (TLD), and to educate all sectors about the techniques and opportunities the TLD offers for improving our city.
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