If you run a New York City-based business or happen to live in one of the five boroughs, you'll soon be able to secure your own domain ending in .nyc. The news was just announced via Mayor Bloomberg's official Twitter account, and a website has gone live with the full details. When the top-level domain starts taking registrations in "late 2013," New York will be the first city in the US with custom URLs of its own, according to officials. But why would you want a .nyc address to begin with? Registering a top-level domain is touted as a way to leverage "the power of the city’s name" for your business, organization, or personal website. "Powerful" as it may be, the city didn't face a fight in securing its desired top-level domain; in fact, it was the sole applicant.

NEWS: We're one of the first cities in the world to get our own domain: .NYC. Find out more: http://t.co/SRqLgMb9DF — NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) July 2, 2013

Things get a bit murky when it comes to exactly who can own a top-level .nyc domain. According to the city's website, "New York City businesses and organizations with a NYC address, individuals with a primary residence in NYC, as well as those offering products or services to New Yorkers can register." That last subset — companies offering products or services to New Yorkers — could easily open the floodgates to any number of registrants. But the city plans to carry out this process carefully, granting priority to home-grown businesses so they may "secure their intellectual property." The registration process itself will be handled by traditional domain registrars, and as for pricing, the city is only saying rates will be "competitive with the market prices for other top-level domains." In other words, you'll likely be paying a good deal more than your typical GoDaddy URL.