The Bronx and Staten Island DMV Offices: Locations, Hours, and How to Get There

The Bronx and Staten Island present two of the most contrasting DMV situations in New York City. The Bronx now runs two offices with sharply different scopes - a full-service location near Yankee Stadium that opened in October 2025, and a limited-service center in the northeast that handles only a narrow set of transactions. Staten Island operates from a single office for close to half a million residents, has no subway service anywhere on the island, and offers exactly one evening window per week for workers who cannot leave before 4 PM. Getting the details wrong - arriving at the wrong Bronx location for a REAL ID, or showing up on a Thursday morning expecting the standard 8:30 AM opening - means a wasted trip. This guide covers what each office handles, how to reach it, and where road tests fit into the overall process.

The Bronx District Office at Bronx Terminal Market

The Bronx's full-service DMV now occupies Level 6 of the Bronx Terminal Market, near Yankee Stadium in the South Bronx. The previous location at Fordham Road closed permanently on September 26, 2025, and the replacement opened October 1, 2025. A formal grand opening ceremony took place December 1, 2025, attended by NYS DMV Commissioner Mark J.F. Schroeder and local officials. Confirm the current address at dmv.ny.gov before your visit - the Bronx relocation is itself a fresh example of why office addresses change and old directions become unreliable.

This is the Bronx's only location that can handle the full range of DMV transactions:

• REAL ID and Enhanced ID upgrades
• New vehicle registrations and title transfers
• Learner permit applications and license upgrades
• Standard renewals and photo-document duplicates
• Plate surrenders, exchanges, and specialty plates

Level 6 also houses the Bronx Traffic Violations Bureau, making this the only Bronx building where you can contest a traffic ticket in the same visit as a registration or ID transaction. That matters in practice: if you owe a hearing on a moving violation and your registration is also due, you no longer have to make two separate trips to two separate offices. Prior to this arrangement, TVB business and DMV business required different buildings on different days. The co-location is a genuine time saver for drivers who have both items on their list.

Transit and Parking

The 161st Street-Yankee Stadium station serves the 4, B, and D trains - one of the most-used transit junctions in the South Bronx. The Bronx Terminal Market sits adjacent to that hub, and the site was chosen specifically so that car-free residents could reach the office without a complicated connection. For drivers, the Bronx Terminal Market garage provides free parking. At the old Fordham Road location, parking was street-only with meters, and finding a space during peak hours was a known frustration. The garage at the new site removes that variable entirely. Hours are Monday through Friday, 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM. The office is closed on weekends.

The Bronx License Center on Commerce Avenue

The Bronx License Center in the northeast Bronx - find its current address in the office locator at dmv.ny.gov - serves residents in that part of the borough for a narrow set of transactions. It shares the same weekday hours as the Terminal Market office: Monday through Friday, 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM, no weekends.

What This Office Can and Cannot Do

Transactions the Commerce Avenue location processes:

• Standard license renewals
• Photo ID duplicates
• Non-REAL ID document replacements
• Permit knowledge tests (the written test) - verify current availability at dmv.ny.gov

Transactions it cannot process:

• REAL ID and Enhanced ID upgrades
• Title transfers and new vehicle registrations
• Full first-time permit applications requiring identity document review - check dmv.ny.gov for which permit-related steps are available at this location
• Commercial license transactions of any kind

For northeast Bronx residents whose only task is a standard renewal, a permit knowledge test, or a duplicate with no REAL ID component, Commerce Avenue is the closer and more practical stop. No reason to travel to the South Bronx for a transaction the neighborhood office handles. But for anything beyond that short list - especially REAL ID upgrades, registrations, or the full permit application process - the Bronx Terminal Market on Level 6 is the only option within the borough. There is no middle-ground location in the Bronx that handles partial full-service transactions - it is one or the other.

The Three Offices Compared

Office	Full Service	REAL ID Available	Subway Access	Parking	TVB On-Site
Bronx Terminal Market (Level 6)	Yes	Yes	Yes - 4/B/D at 161st St	Free garage	Yes
Bronx License Center (Commerce Ave)	No - renewals, duplicates, and permit tests only	No	6 train nearby (Westchester Sq-E Tremont Ave)	Street parking	No
Richmond County DMV (Staten Island)	Yes	Yes	None - no island subway	Free lot	No

The Fordham Road Closure - Verify Before You Go

The former Bronx District Office at Fordham Road operated for decades and was the borough's primary DMV address for most longtime residents. It closed permanently on September 26, 2025. The closure stranded people almost immediately. In the days after the Terminal Market location opened October 1, hundreds of residents arrived at Fordham Road to find the building locked, holding confirmation emails that still displayed the old address.

The root of the problem was predictable: confirmation emails generated before the move, and in some cases automated appointment reminders sent after it, continued displaying the Fordham Road location. Anyone who did not verify the office independently before traveling wasted the trip. Old emails looked official, showed the appointment time correctly, and gave no indication that the location had changed.

That risk applies to any pre-October 2025 source:

• Any appointment confirmation - email, printout, or mailed notice - generated before the October 2025 move
• Any booking forwarded by someone who scheduled before the office relocated

Bronx Road Test Sites

Road tests in the Bronx take place at three sites, none of them connected to either DMV office. The sites are booked through dmv.ny.gov as a separate transaction - an office appointment for a learner permit and a road test booking are two independent steps in the licensing sequence, handled through different parts of the same website.

• Alexander Avenue in Mott Haven: CDL commercial tests only. Not available for standard auto or motorcycle road tests.
• Havemeyer Avenue in the Castle Hill and Soundview area of the Bronx: standard auto and motorcycle road tests. This is the primary site for most Bronx residents seeking a non-commercial license.
• Riverdale in the northwest Bronx: auto only, no motorcycle tests offered. Confirm the exact location at dmv.ny.gov when you book.

A learner permit appointment at the Bronx Terminal Market and a road test at Havemeyer Avenue are two separate steps in the licensing process - the permit comes first at the office, the road test follows at one of these sites on a different day and through a separate booking. Attempting to schedule both on the same occasion at the same location does not work. CDL applicants in the Bronx have only the Alexander Avenue option; standard-license applicants choose between Havemeyer Avenue and Riverdale based on location and calendar availability when they book.

The Richmond County DMV - Staten Island's One Office

Staten Island has exactly one NYS DMV office. The Richmond County DMV is inside the West Shore Shopping Plaza on the western side of the island in the Willowbrook area. Find the current suite number and address at dmv.ny.gov before your visit.

This single location serves roughly 500,000 Staten Island residents. That ratio shapes everything about the booking experience. Appointment slots go quickly, and waits of several weeks are common during busy periods - particularly in the months when REAL ID demand spikes ahead of federal enforcement deadlines, or in late spring and summer when license renewals and new driver activity peak. If you have a time-sensitive transaction, check availability as soon as you know you need it. Assuming a slot will be open this week or next is usually wrong.

The concentration of demand also affects Thursday evening slots specifically. Because Thursday afternoon is the only after-work window the island offers (covered in the next section), those later slots attract disproportionate competition. A midweek Tuesday morning appointment is far easier to find than a Thursday 4:30 slot.

For Staten Island residents, the DMV is a plan-ahead errand. When the Thursday evening slots fill for the coming weeks, there is no equivalent evening window on any other day, and no second office on the island to check.

Parking is free in the West Shore Shopping Plaza lot, which is large and accessible from the highway network on the western side of the island. The Richmond County office is full-service - REAL ID, registrations, title transfers, permits, and all standard transactions.

Staten Island Hours and the Thursday Anomaly

The Richmond County DMV does not keep uniform hours across the week, and that variation matters directly for anyone on a standard 9-to-5 schedule.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday: the office opens at 8:30 AM and closes at 4:00 PM.

Thursday: the office opens late at 10:00 AM and stays open until 6:00 PM.

That 6:00 PM close on Thursdays is the only slot in the borough's entire weekly schedule that allows a worker who finishes at 5:00 PM to reach the DMV in time. On every other weekday, the 4:00 PM close makes a same-day visit after work impossible for most full-time employees. Thursday is the one exception - and it exists nowhere else on Staten Island.

Planning Around the Thursday Schedule

• Evening slots on Thursday - from roughly 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM - carry higher demand than any midday appointment. Book several weeks out if you need that window.
• The Thursday late open also catches people off guard. The usual 8:30 AM start does not apply. Arriving at 8:30 on a Thursday and expecting to be first in the door means a 90-minute wait in the parking lot before the office opens at 10:00 AM.
• No weekend hours exist at the Richmond County DMV, nor at either Bronx office. For workers across both boroughs, Thursday afternoon is the only non-weekday-morning slot available anywhere.
• If Thursday evening is fully booked and your schedule cannot accommodate a weekday before 4:00 PM, the next option may require traveling to a full-service office in another borough with more available time slots.

Getting to the Staten Island DMV Without a Car

Staten Island has no subway service. Reaching the Richmond County DMV by transit from Manhattan is possible, but it requires two connected legs and takes roughly 60 to 75 minutes from Lower Manhattan under normal conditions.

1. Take the Staten Island Ferry from Whitehall Terminal in Lower Manhattan to St. George Terminal on Staten Island. The ferry is free, runs on a published schedule, and the crossing takes roughly 25 minutes. Check current departure times at siferry.com before heading to the terminal - early morning and late evening frequencies are lower than midday.
2. At St. George Terminal, board the S46 or S96 bus toward West Shore. Both lines serve the West Shore Plaza area near the DMV. Real-time bus tracking is available at bustime.mta.info, and checking it at the ferry terminal before boarding tells you how long until the next bus.
3. Exit at West Shore Plaza and walk to the DMV entrance in the shopping center. Confirm the suite number and entrance at dmv.ny.gov before your visit.

Off-peak frequency on the S46 and S96 is lower than the peak schedule - a wait of 15 to 20 minutes for a bus at St. George is realistic mid-morning or mid-afternoon. Factor that into your travel time. Missing an appointment window because of a delayed connection means rescheduling through dmv.ny.gov, and with the booking pressure on Staten Island, the next available slot can be weeks out. Build in extra cushion beyond the appointment start time.

For most Staten Island residents, and for anyone traveling from another borough who has a car, driving and using the free West Shore lot is significantly faster and less subject to schedule variation. The transit option works but requires active management of both legs - it is not a background task you can handle on autopilot.

Staten Island Road Test Sites

Staten Island has six road test sites distributed across the borough. Unlike the Bronx, where all three sites are clustered in specific neighborhoods, Staten Island's spread gives most residents at least one realistic option without a long drive:

• Lenevar Avenue in Woodrow on the South Shore: widely regarded as one of the easiest road test sites on the island. The routes run through quiet residential streets with low through-traffic, and the test course is considered straightforward for nervous test-takers. Its reputation drives demand - Lenevar fills faster than other sites and has less availability on short notice.
• Mariners Harbor on the North Shore: the practical first choice for residents in the northwestern part of the island.
• Dugdale Street in the mid-island area: serves the central area of the island without requiring a long drive to the South Shore.
• Father Capodanno Boulevard on the East Shore: access point for residents along the eastern shoreline.
• Snug Harbor on the North Shore near Richmond Terrace: convenient for the northern part of the island and close to the St. George ferry terminal area.
• Fox Hills in the Stapleton area on the eastern side of the island: an alternative when Dugdale Street is fully booked.

When scheduling at dmv.ny.gov, the site selection step lets you filter by location. North Shore residents may find Mariners Harbor or Snug Harbor most practical. South Shore residents near Woodrow are geographically closest to Lenevar but should check availability early given its popularity. Mid-island residents can compare Dugdale Street and Fox Hills based on what the calendar shows.

Road test bookings are entirely separate from the Richmond County DMV office visit. A permit appointment at West Shore Shopping Plaza and a road test at Snug Harbor are two distinct steps, scheduled independently through different parts of dmv.ny.gov, on different days and at different locations. First-time drivers frequently assume they can schedule both in one sitting at the same place - the system does not work that way. The office visit to obtain the learner permit comes first. Once the permit is issued, the road test is booked separately at a site of your choice. Confusing the two steps is one of the most common scheduling errors made by new applicants in both boroughs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What documents do I need to bring to an appointment?

Required documents vary by transaction. REAL ID upgrades, first-time permits, and title transfers each have their own checklist - proof of identity, residency, and other supporting documents may all be required in original form. The current lists are maintained at dmv.ny.gov and updated when state or federal requirements change. Review the checklist for your specific transaction before your appointment and bring originals, not copies. An incomplete document set means rescheduling, and on Staten Island in particular, the next available slot can be several weeks out.

Can any of these transactions be handled online instead of in person?

Some standard renewals and routine transactions can be completed at dmv.ny.gov without visiting an office. Whether your specific situation qualifies depends on the transaction type and your record status. Before scheduling an in-person appointment at either borough's offices, check whether your task can be handled remotely - if it can, you avoid the booking queue entirely. The dmv.ny.gov transaction guide indicates which steps require a physical visit.

Can I use a DMV office in another borough if my local one has no availability?

Yes. Full-service DMV offices across New York City process the same transactions regardless of where you live. If Staten Island slots are booked out for weeks, or the Bronx Terminal Market has nothing available in time, checking offices in other boroughs is a practical option. The document requirements and procedures are the same everywhere. Use the location and date filters at dmv.ny.gov to find the earliest available appointment citywide for your transaction type.

What should I do if I need to reschedule?

Log into dmv.ny.gov to modify or cancel your appointment. On Staten Island, where a single office serves the entire borough, canceling close to your appointment time and then searching for a replacement slot can push your next available date weeks out. If your plans change, reschedule as early as possible rather than letting the appointment lapse - a no-show wastes a slot that another resident may have needed, and it may affect your ability to rebook promptly. Check the current rescheduling policy at dmv.ny.gov, as the rules can change during high-demand periods.