The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) celebrated the formal grand opening of its new and more modern Bronx District Office in the Bronx Terminal Market at 610 Exterior Street on Monday, Dec. 1. The office is open Monday through Friday from 7.30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

As reported, some Bronxites had still been showing up at the former Bronx office on East Fordham Road despite an August announcement regarding the planned office move and opening of the new premises in September.

“We are delighted to receive our customers in a welcoming and more modern Bronx office,” said DMV Commissioner Mark J.F. Schroeder at the formal opening on Monday. “This is just the latest step in our ongoing effort to update our offices to improve services by allowing our staff to handle transactions more efficiently and get customers in and out as quickly as possible.”

DMV officials said the Terminal Market site offers direct access to a public transportation hub, “making it easier for our customers to get to and from the office.” They added that it also has ample parking compared to the previous office on Fordham Road, which they said was closed in late September to allow for the move.

They said the improved layout will assist with DMV’s ability to handle transactions in a more efficient manner with a more efficient layout. They added that technology improvements include better queueing systems, bigger monitor displays and improved audio systems, so customers can more easily hear when their turn has been called.

DMV Officials added that the Bronx Traffic Violation Bureau (TVB) is also housed in the Bronx Terminal Market, but the increase in space allows both the DMV and TVB to operate at peak efficiency. They said the Bronx TVB is open Monday through Wednesday and on Friday from 8.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Thursday from 8.30 to 6 p.m. They said other recent DMV office upgrades include locations in Harlem, White Plains and Hauppauge.

DMV officials said the office improvements and relocations are intended to enable DMV to continue to meet its mission and vision statement goals of driving New Yorkers forward and shattering their perceptions of the DMV. They said they are just one part of the agency’s ongoing transformation initiative, in which it is modernizing its technology and streamlining its customer service options.

They said the transformation effort is also intended to make the DMV less complicated for customers and employees, so that customers are successful during their first visit and do not have to return to the office.

To date, they said the DMV has launched a redesigned website and improved the personalized online customer portal, added new online transactions, expanded online live chat options, introduced online pre-screening for some of the most complicated transactions, made it easier to access DMV records, and more. They said the DMV will continue to build on these improvements in the coming years.

For more information about the DMV, visit dmv.ny.gov.