Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expected to announce hundreds of additional seats for New York City’s 3-K program on Tuesday
Sources say he will announce 1,000 seats across the city for the fall at an 11 a.m. news conference on Staten Island.
The city offers free pre-school for 3- and 4-year-olds. But the expansion comes as some parents say they were offered spots far from their neighborhoods, making the program difficult to use.
Staten Island is also set to be included in the next phase of the free childcare program after being left out of the first rollout.
Mamdani said the goal is to make it “truly universal,” according to a promotional video he posted on social media Monday night.
“A 3-year-old can’t take themselves to class three miles away, and a working parent shouldn’t have to commute from Parkchester to Park Slope just to find childcare. That’s why our administration is working tirelessly to make sure that every family can get the more than $20,000 in savings a year that 3-K provides them, and so every child can receive the benefits of an early childhood education,” he said in the video.
The mayor also said NYC Schools will notify families when seats have been added in their communities. Residents have until April 24 to update their application.
First phase of 2-K program rolled out
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mamdani announced the first four communities receiving 2,000 free child care seats for 2-year-olds on March 3.
Areas in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn were part of the rollout.
“Launching 2-K in these four neighborhoods is just the beginning of our work to put money back in New Yorkers’ pockets, strengthen our entire economy and help more families build their lives here,” Mamdani said.
Hochul said the state will fully fund the new program for the first two years. The first 2,000 seats come with a $73 million price tag, and the state is prepared to spend up to $425 million next year.
Applications will open this summer.
Staten Island residents initially not eligible
Staten Island was notably left out of the first 2,000 seats available for 2-K.
Borough President Vito Fossella said his residents waited days for snow plows to clear parts of the borough, and now they will wait longer for 2-K.
“Last week, we were left out in the snow. This week we’re left out in the cold,” Fossella previously said. “If there was a plan to put these things in place, shouldn’t there [have] been a negotiation conversation to try to identify locations?”
The mayor said the locations were determined by neighborhoods that had child care providers “ready to go before the end of this year and as a reflection of economic need.”