A few readers of A Little Beacon Blog have asked why Beacon's DMV is closed, when other offices are open, like in Wappingers, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie and Peekskill. We reached out to Bradford Kendall, the Dutchess County Clerk, who answered from the 22 Market Street, Poughkeepsie office, who stated that "because of COVID there is no way to re-open safely for walk-in customers at this time." He continued to provide the logistical reasons:

A Plexiglass Shortage

“Because of a national shortage of Plexiglas,” Brad stated, “and demands from multiple departments, our Public Works Department (who is doing a great job) have not yet been able to install the Plexiglas shields necessary to accommodate the public.” There was a plexiglass shortage discussed in news reports in May, as essential businesses started to put up the protective barriers in order to stay open, or prepare to reopen for Phases 1, 2, 3, 4. Many stores and restaurants in Beacon have added plexiglass to their counters, some within the past month.

When asked about local retail acquisition and installation of plexiglass, Brad answered: “Government procurement practices differ from the private sector. Also as I said, DPW is working at multiple government locations, including NYS Court facilities to install these.”

According to Brad, none of the DMVs had glass or plastic barriers between employees or the public before the pandemic.

Staffing For Phone-In Business

“To open an office by appointment requires reassigning 2 clerks to telephone/check-in duty. Currently all clerks in Beacon are processing the copious amounts of mail-in, drop off and dealer work we receive on a daily basis.”

Since the DMV closed by state order on March 16th, they have had "a back-log of 80,000 transactions and are getting upwards of 25,000 phone calls a day," explains Brad. He went on to explain that “counties across New York have implemented various strategies to re-open. Each has its challenges. Some like Columbia have relied on physical lines outside the DMV resulting in waits in excess of 3 hours. Some like Putnam and Ulster provide for online queueing resulting in appointments that are not available for two to three weeks.”

He continued: “We have chosen the phone system. It allows us to prioritize license transactions that must be done in person while moving other transactions to mail or online options. It allows us to screen for Dutchess County residency in order to give priority to Dutchess County residents. It allows us to offer appointments within several days of calling, in some cases on the same day.”

Beacon’s Options Of Busing Or Driving To Other DMVs

According to Brad, “approximately 55% of Beacon work comes from out of county. There are 2 offices within 20 minutes of Beacon- Wappingers and Newburgh. Peekskill is 30 minutes away.” It is unclear if that logic implies that the people in Beacon who use the DMV are deemed unworthy of it opening.

As for situations where people need to renew their license and cannot drive with an expired license, where walking to a DMV seems particularly convenient, and a highlight of living in Beacon, Brad did not think it a major issue. For those with children who also need things, taking public transportation can be extremely cumbersome to coordinate.

Brad said: “There are very few situations where this would be a barrier. In fact, compared to the rest of Dutchess County, Beacon has greater accessibility to public transportation then most. Poughkeepsie is a 25 minute trip on Metro North.” While that 25 minute ride is a straight shot, coordinating it with children or elderly people can be cumbersome. Getting to a bus with kids is cumbersome, as is riding the bus, and getting to the destination. For someone without kids, using public transportation to do this errand takes hours out of the day. Versus walking to the DMV for what used to take maybe an hour for the line, depending on what time you got there.

DMV Work-Arounds

Brad wanted to remind readers that all registrations, licenses and inspections have been extended by New York State “until further notice,” he said. “If you would like to renew your license on-line, some pharmacies are offering the eye exam. Your results will be transmitted electronically after which you may renew online at www.dmv.ny.gov. You can also get the eye exam at Luxe Optique free of charge, on Main Street here in Beacon.

“The deadline for EDL’s has been extended until October 1, 2021. Of course if you have a US Passport you may use that for EDL purposes. If you wish to upgrade to an EDL at renewal there is an additional $30 fee. If you upgrade at any time other than renewal the fee is $42.50.”

So there you have it. When once we moaned at any wait time at Beacon’s DMV (personally, the service was always short for this blogger…you just need to time it right…take a number and take a walk…then it was your turn), we are all waiting for it to open again.

At least Dutchess County got Beacon a new DMV parking lot sign, however. That old sign had been pretty old and unreadable since at least 10 years.