New York City officials on Thursday
announced they will accept all couples who applied to marry on
Sunday, the first day a gay marriage law takes effect.
Citing an expected rush of 2,500
couples – gay and straight – on the law's first day, city
officials on Tuesday announced a lottery for the 764 available slots
for couples to marry. But the 48-hour lottery ended on Thursday with
only 823 couples vying for a slot.
Marc LaVorgna, a spokesman for Mayor
Michael Bloomberg, told the AP that the city has decided to adjust
their plans and accept all 823 couples who entered the lottery.
At each of the city's five borough
clerk's offices, couples will be seen by a judge who will grant a
marriage license, issue a waiver of the customary waiting period, and
perform a ceremony.
Sunday's nuptials will shatter the
city's old record set in 2003 of 621 marriages in a single day on
Valentine's Day.
Media coverage will likely focus on the
borough of Manhattan, where the majority (at least 400) of the
weddings will take place.