Every school district in the Bronx and Staten Island will offer free preschool spots for 2-year-olds next fall, the city announced Monday, as part of a planned expansion of the city’s 2-K program, which also includes more spots in Crown Heights, East Harlem and Corona.
The city will add 10,000 more seats in districts and increase the number of seats in school districts that launched 2-K this year to 12,000 total by the start of the next school year.
This highly anticipated release is the latest step by Mayor Zohran Mamdani to deliver the universal child care system he promised. Earlier this month, the city also began removing thousands of families from a growing waitlist for subsidized child care and said it would pay all fees associated with those vouchers, making child care completely free.
“For far too many New York families, the joy of welcoming a child comes with a series of terrifying questions: How will I afford child care? Will I have to give up my job? Will I be forced to leave the city I love? Today, for 10,000 more families, we have an answer,” Mamdani said in a statement. “Families told us what they needed. Together with Governor Hochul, we are making it happen.”
The 2-K program will be funded by a $1.2 billion investment from state taxpayers, after Gov. Kathy Hochul promised to cover the first two years of the expansion. Mamdani promised that every 2-year-old who wants a seat would get one by the end of his term, but the governor did not say how much the state would contribute after the second year.
“Generations of parents have faced the stress of child care costs in this city and state – but thanks to our partnership with Mayor Mamdani, that is changing,” Hochul said in a statement. “This is how we provide real relief to working families and ensure our children get the best possible start in life. »
Hochul said Monday she would do “whatever it takes” to maintain 2-K and did not rule out a possible tax increase to do so.
“We haven’t gone this far to backtrack now. We’re going all the way. Universal means universal, so I’m committed to that,” she said.
City officials said the additional neighborhoods that will offer 2-K were selected based on demand and provider capacity. Next year, 22 of 32 school districts will offer the program. Most programs will run all day, all year long. The city’s existing 3-K and PreK programs for 3- and 4-year-olds only provide free care for 6 hours and throughout the school year.
Parent advocacy group New Yorkers United for Child Care is pushing the city to create year-round 3-K and PreK programs that run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. to match the 2-K model. The group said it would cost the city an additional $735 million a year to expand program hours to 81,500 children.
The city will release a survey of current public preschool providers and a request for information for new providers interested in offering 2-K within the next week.
“We learned valuable lessons from parents and providers when we launched the first 2,000 seats this year,” said Emmy Liss, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Child Care and Early Childhood Education. “Continued engagement with families, educators and communities will inform and strengthen the program as we grow. »
City officials said the Department of Education will hire 200 additional employees to help process contracts and reduce payment times. This follows serious payment delays that spoiled the launch of 2-K this year.
The city plans to release details on when parents can apply in the coming weeks.
The following school districts will get 2-K next year:
Manhattan
- School District 4: East Harlem; Randall’s Island
- School District 5: Central Harlem; East Harlem; Manhattanville/West Harlem; Morningside Heights; Hamilton Heights / Sugar Hill
Brooklyn
- School District 16: Bedford-Stuyvesant, including Stuyvesant Heights; as well as parts of northern Crown Heights and Ocean Hill
- School District 17: Crown Heights; Prospect Lefferts Gardens; Wingate; Perspective heights; Flat bush; East Flatbush; plus parts of Erasmus, Farragut, Rugby, Remsen Village, Ocean Hill and Brownsville
- School District 19: East New York; New batches; Cypress Hills; City line; Spring Creek; Town of Starrett; as well as parts of Ocean Hill, Brownsville and Canarsie
- School District 20: Bay Ridge; Fort Hamilton; Dyker Heights; Bathing beach; as well as parts of Bensonhurst, Borough Park, Sunset Park, Kensington, Gravesend, Mapleton/Western Midwood and Western Flatbush
- School District 21: Coney Island; Sea Gate; Brighton Beach; Gravesend; Crest of the house; Mapleton/Ocean Drive; Middle wood; plus parts of Bensonhurst, Borough Park, Madison and western Flatbush
- School District 32: Bushwick; as well as parts of East Williamsburg and northern Bedford-Stuyvesant
Queens
- School District 24: Corona, including North Corona; Elmhurst; Maspeth; Middle Village; Ridgewood; Glendale; Sunny side; Wood side; as well as parts of Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, Rego Park, Woodhaven, Forest Hills and Long Island City
- School District 28: Rego Park; Forest hills; Kew Gardens; Heather wood; Jamaica Hills; Jamaica; southern Jamaica; Richmond Hill; Richmond South Hill; South Ozone Park; Baisley Park; Rochdale Village; Springfield Gardens; as well as parts of Kew Gardens Hills, Hillcrest, St. Albans, Glendale, Corona and Elmhurst
- School District 29: Queens Village; Cambria Heights; Hollis; Saint Albans; Laurelton; Rosedale; Springfield Gardens; Brookville; parts of Bellerose, Jamaica Estates, Holliswood, Hillcrest, Jamaica Hills, Jamaica and South Jamaica
This story has been updated with additional information.
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