The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in Riverhead at 200 Old Country Rd. closed for renovations on March 1 and is expected to reopen the week of April 2. Customers in need of DMV services are advised to visit its offices in Port Jefferson, Medford or Hauppauge.
Several attempts made by The Independent to contact Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo for more information on the renovation were unsuccessful.
“I didn’t expect to make the time to come here and have it be closed. I took my break from work to come here to renew my license. I don’t have the time to go to another DMV,” said Dani Redding of Jamesport who arrived at the DMV Friday morning only to find a construction site marked off with yellow caution tape.
Construction workers were in the process of removing materials from the interior of the building and disposing of them into two large dumpsters that had been placed in the parking lot. The workers declined to comment on the details of the work.
“This is really inconvenient. I came all the way from Shelter Island and had no idea the DMV was closed for a month,” said a woman who arrived to apply for an enhanced driver’s license.
According to the Department of Motor Vehicles website, an enhanced license is Federal REAL ID compliant and can be used instead of a passport to return to the US by land or sea from Canada, Mexico and some Caribbean countries.
In order to accommodate an influx of customers while the Riverhead DMV is closed, the Port Jefferson office will be open for business on Fridays. When renovations are over and the Riverhead location reopens, the Port Jefferson office will resume its normal business hours from Monday through Thursday.
Contact information and business hours for the Medford, Hauppauge and Port Jefferson DMVs are below. Customers can call 718-477-4820 for more information. According to the DMV, all offices listed are open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:30 AM to 4 PM and Thursday from 10 AM to 6 PM.
