Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels opened a new early childhood education center in Downtown Brooklyn on Tuesday, April 21.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Tuesday that his administration will open seven formerly vacant early childhood education centers this fall, adding about 240 new 3-K seats citywide, including at a long-delayed Downtown Brooklyn site that he said had sat empty for years despite local demand.
The administration also announced plans to add about 450 more 3-K seats at community-based organizations this fall, the first phase of a broader expansion that officials said would create nearly 700 seats overall
Speaking at 274 Atlantic Ave., Mamdani said the Brooklyn center would provide 63 3-K and pre-K seats. He said the city signed a lease for the site in 2021, had it ready for children in 2023, and left it vacant under the prior administration, even as families struggled to find affordable child care close to home.
Asked about applications for this fall, Mamdani said estimates for 3-K and pre-K were “lining up with where we were last year” and said the administration was not yet ready to release final figures because officials were still sorting through individual applications.
Pressed on why a broader outreach effort had not yet produced clearer gains, he said the city had inherited an outreach operation that had been “really disbanded” under former Mayor Eric Adams.
Mamdani said rebuilding awareness among parents would take time and described this year’s outreach as a first step after years in which city efforts had lagged.
He said the administration still viewed the push as successful because it was adding seats while trying to reconnect families with the system.
CM Lincoln Restler was joined by his son Ethan. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Council Member Lincoln Restler said the city spent $10.6 million renovating the building and paid a monthly lease for four years while no children were being educated there.
He said District 15 received more than 1,600 applications for 3-K seats this past year, but only about 1,500 seats were available, leaving families short of capacity even as the site sat empty.