The City plans to raise cash selling .nyc domains

As officials search for cash to help plug the city's widening budget deficit, City Council members say they’ve found a relatively painless way to generate millions of dollars for the city. It will come from the Internet.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced during her state-of-the-city address Thursday that the “.nyc” domain will start generating a fresh stream of revenue for the city next summer.

dotNYC, a private group, has asked the city to let it sell Web addresses such as www.GrimaldisPizza.nyc or www.EmpireStateBuilding.nyc for about $10 a pop to people, corporations and small businesses. In return, the company would give the city one-third of the domain's profits.

However, a city spokesman says officials have not yet chosen a partner for the project. The city may decide to send out a request for proposals.

“A local business won't have to outbid a guy in Kansas to get TonysPizza.com,” Ms. Quinn said. “They'll be able to get TonysPizza.NYC, a name associated with the greatest city—and home of the greatest pizza—in the world.”

She said the city will generate millions of dollars per year through the system just by giving its permission to allow .nyc to be created.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is responsible for approving requested domain names. ICANN, which was founded 10 years ago, is expected to begin approving new domains named for cities and states this summer, although the sites may not go live until mid-2010. Until now, only 21 domains, such as .com, .org and .edu, have been accessible. Country and continent codes have also been in use, including .us in the United States and .fr in France.

During a Thursday address, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said the ".nyc" domain will start generating a fresh stream of revenue for the city next summer.