New York City will allow online marriages starting next week

New York City moved on Wednesday to develop a virtual means of providing marriage licenses for residents after the city was forced to temporarily shutter its marriage bureau due to coronavirus concerns.

A joint statement from Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and city council Speaker Corey Johnson (D) indicated that marriages would resume before the end of next week.

“Coronavirus has changed the world in so many ways but our ability to love and commit to each other hasn’t wavered. Now couples ready to marry don’t have to wait for the pandemic to end to say ‘I do.’ We deserve some good news and this is definitely wonderful news for all of New York City,” Johnson said in a release.

“We need moments of joy now more than ever, and we won’t let a pandemic get in the way of true love,” added de Blasio. “To all of the couples looking forward to tying the knot, know that your city is right here with you, throwing rice from afar.”

The venture, titled “Project Cupid,” will be operated jointly by the Office of the City Clerk and the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications. Details on the exact date the service would open were not immediately available.

The Wednesday statement went on to explain that Project Cupid was made possible after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) moved earlier in April to waive an executive order requiring that marriage licenses be obtained in person.

NEW: I am issuing an Executive Order allowing New Yorkers to obtain a marriage license remotely and allowing clerks to perform ceremonies via video conference.

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 18, 2020

De Blasio, a former presidential candidate, said in March that he understood the inconvenience that shuttering the marriage bureau would cause, but called it a necessary part of the city’s efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

“Obviously it’s painful because it’s such an important moment in people’s lives, but we’re also dealing with a crisis that we’ve never seen before,” he said.