New York City Department of Veterans' Services

New York City has no county veterans' service agency. Veterans' Services Law 14 requires one only in a county "not wholly included within a city", and the five boroughs are wholly inside the City. Instead the City runs a city veterans' service agency, the Department of Veterans' Services, created by Local Law 113 of 2015 as chapter 75 of the City Charter and open since April 8, 2016. See the New York entry on county and city veterans' service agencies. Who it serves. Charter section 3101 defines a veteran as anyone who serves or has served in the active military, the National Guard or reserves, the Public Health Service or NOAA Corps, "regardless of discharge status or time served". A veteran with an other than honorable discharge, or a short enlistment, can use the Department, even where a particular benefit it helps with has a stricter test. VA claims. The Department's accredited staff represent veterans and families in claims for disability compensation, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, the veterans' and survivors' pensions and education benefits. Bring the DD-214, a marriage certificate, any VA award letter and medical evidence, though the claim can be started without them. Request an appointment through VetConnectNYC, choosing "Benefits Navigation", or call 212-416-5250 or email [email protected]. Resource centres. Administrative Code 31-106 requires at least one resource centre in every borough, with at least 20 hours of service a week, and 31-107 requires free benefits counselling in each borough. As listed on 2026-10-02, walk-ins welcome: Bronx: James J. Peters VA Medical Center, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, 4th floor, Tuesday and Thursday. Brooklyn: Brooklyn VA Medical Center, 800 Poly Place, Room 5-213, Tuesday and Thursday; and the HRA office at 25 Chapel Street, Monday and Tuesday. Manhattan: Municipal Building, 1 Centre Street, 22nd floor, Suite 2213, Monday, Wednesday and Friday; and the Harlem Vet Center, 55 West 125th Street, 9th floor, Wednesday morning. Queens: Queens Borough Hall, 120-55 Queens Boulevard, Kew Gardens, Monday and Thursday. Staten Island: Staten Island Borough Hall, 10 Richmond Terrace, Tuesday and Thursday. Under the Vallone Veteran Resource Center Initiative, accredited officers from the Veterans of Foreign Wars also hold monthly claim hours in City Council district offices in all five boroughs; the district office sets the schedule. Other help it gives. Housing coordinators for homeless and at-risk veterans, transport to VA appointments, employment and business help, Mission: VetCheck, in which New York Cares volunteers make check-in calls to veterans who ask for one, and the City's Dwyer peer support programme (its own entry). For a veteran discharged because of sexual orientation or gender identity, Administrative Code 31-112 has the Department issue a certificate of eligibility for City veterans' benefits and arrange help with a discharge upgrade; its definition also reaches an LGBTQ veteran discharged because of untreated trauma, including from sexual assault in service. An old citation. Administrative Code 31-106 still describes the Department's duties by "state executive law section 358", which has been Veterans' Services Law 15 since 2022.