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By: Staff Reporter

Niagara County Clerk Joseph A. Jastrzemski today announced the Niagara County Department of Motor Vehicles will hold special office hours on Saturday, September 19th for driver’s licenses renewals.  No appointment is necessary.

“Our Saturday event last month for commercial driver’s licenses was a huge success and we recognize the backlog for regular driver’s license renewals is even greater, with somewhere around 8,000 Niagara County residents already overdue,” said Jastrzemski.  “Although Governor Cuomo issued an Executive Order back in March extending expiration dates on driver’s licenses indefinitely, we know many people want to just get their renewal done so they are not scrambling if and when the Governor rescinds that order.”

Jastrzemski said the events will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Lockport DMV, 111 Main Street in Lockport and the North Tonawanda DMV, 500 Wheatfield Street in North Tonawanda.  You must be in line no later than 12:30 p.m. More than a dozen DMV staffers will be on hand to process the paperwork.

Jastrzemski reiterated this is for license transactions only, such a renewals, switching to an Enhanced license or Real ID, upgrading to commercial driver’s licenses and so on. Residents must bring original documentation, not copies and are strongly encouraged to visit https://dmv.ny.gov/driver-license for a complete list of acceptable forms of Identification.  Residents should also bring their own pen.

In addition, Jastrzemski also announced that his office has installed red drop boxes outside of the DMV locations in Niagara Falls and North Tonawanda to help process transactions more quickly for the public without the need to schedule an appointment.  The Lockport location already has a drop box slot.

“New York State is still limiting our office operations because of the pandemic, necessitating people to schedule an appointment and we know getting that appointment is not easy,” said Jastrzemski.  “Since many of the transactions are very routine, we are trying to expand the use of the drop box system which has worked well.”

Jastrzemski said the drop boxes can be used for things like turning in plates, registering a vehicle and making amendments to your pistol permit and with the recent issues related to postal service delivery, the boxes are the quickest, most efficient way to process your transaction.

“If people drop off their paperwork, our goal is to process the transaction in 48 hours or less and give you the option to come back to our office and pick up your completed transactions without having to wait in line,” said Jastrzemski.  “It is fast, efficient and safe.”

Instructions for registration of a vehicle utilizing the drop box can be found by visiting https://www.niagaracounty.com/Departments/Motor-Vehicles-Department.

Instructions for amendments to pistol permits can be found at https://www.niagaracounty.com/Departments/Pistol-Permit-Office.