Thank you for your interest in Joining the mighty Empire City Garrison of the 501st legion! The Empire City Garrison,like the entire 501st Legion, is simply a fun, all-volunteer group of fans specifically from the NY/NYC area honoring the characters from the Star Wars saga.

We do charity events, promotional events, children's hospital visits, and pop culture/movie/comic conventions among other fun events. There are no fees and the only requirements pertain to age and costume quality.

You will need to own a professional quality costume representing a well-documented canon villain from the Star Wars films or Expanded Universe.(ie, the video games or Novels). If you do not own one as of yet, our Garrison Member Liaison (GML) will gladly help point you in the right direction to get you started on your way! Something to be aware of is, Star Wars costumes that are commercially available may not be acceptable for membership!
Just because a costume is licensed, doesn't necessarily make it accurate! It is recommended that you contact our Garrison Membership Liaison, before purchasing a retail costume.

To get the ball rolling, You will need to apply for membership by filling out the 501st Legion application form on the main site. Be sure to put "New York: Empire City Garrison" as your garrison affiliation! If you are not in the New york area, you will need to locate the 501st Garrison closest to you, and select that garrison. Then you will need to select a Legion ID number (a 4-digit number which is not already in use). The 2-letter prefix will vary depending on your costume. For example, TK-#### would be a Stormtrooper and TB-#### would be a Biker Scout. You can go to the main 501st site to find an available number. Simply do a member search by TKID. Type in a number you'd like, and see if it brings up a member.If it does not,the number is available. A word of advice, all 2 and 3 digit numbers are taken. So choosing "0078" or "0462", for example, will not work.All information submitted will be kept confidential and will be used only for 501st Legion registration and communication purposes, except information you designate as "public" which will be visible on your member profile page. Please note, recently approved applicants will have their name, Legion ID number and enlistment date displayed on the 501st.com home page under "Newest Recruits" for a brief time.