New York Lifetime Liberty Pass

The Lifetime Liberty Pass is New York's park benefit for veterans, and the name is accurate: once issued it never expires and it costs nothing. The pass gives free vehicle entry to most state-operated parks, to Department of Environmental Conservation day-use areas, and to state-operated boat launches, historic sites, arboretums, and park preserves. It also covers free greens fees at state-operated golf courses and free entry to state park swimming pools, and it discounts camping and cabin rentals at most state park and DEC campgrounds. A New York State resident who is a veteran qualifies. The discharge test is broader than most: an other than dishonorable discharge qualifies, and New York explicitly extends the pass to a veteran who received a less than honorable discharge because of sexual orientation or gender identity, and to a veteran who received one in circumstances connected to military sexual trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, or traumatic brain injury. That is a deliberate correction of discharges the federal system was slow to revisit, and a veteran who has assumed for years that a bad paper discharge closes every door should read it carefully. Gold Star family members qualify separately. A Gold Star parent, spouse, or child of a service member who died during active duty service may order a pass. For those applicants the DD-1300 Report of Casualty is the only accepted document. The Gold Star spouse category includes a domestic partner. There is no disability rating requirement anywhere in this benefit. Order the pass free at the New York State Parks online shop. It arrives as a card tied to a vehicle registration, and the household can use it on the vehicle listed. This is not the same thing as the Empire Pass sold to the general public, and a veteran holding a Liberty Pass does not need to buy one.