by Michelle Mullen

Applications for New York City’s inaugural free 2-K program close June 26, leaving families across Riverdale and neighboring northwest Bronx communities with days to apply for what could amount to thousands of dollars in annual savings on childcare.

The new initiative, launched earlier this month by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, will for the first time offer free care for 2-year-olds regardless of family income.

The city launched applications June 2 for roughly 2,000 seats across five school districts, including Community School District 10, which includes Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil, Kingsbridge, Marble Hill, Van Cortlandt Village and Kingsbridge Heights.

Districts selected for the pilot were chosen based on economic need, anticipated demand, gaps in access to childcare and whether providers had the capacity to expand, according to city officials. Each 2-K classroom will be capped at 12 students.

For many families, the financial stakes are significant, New York City Executive Director for the Mayor’s Office of Child Care and Early Childhood Education Emmy Liss told The Press.

“Childcare in New York City has become unaffordable for most New Yorkers,” Liss said. “We know that that has a detrimental effect on families’ abilities to stay in the city, to live here, to thrive, to participate in the workforce.”

Parents of infants and toddlers in New York City spent an average of more than $23,000 annually on center-based childcare in 2024, according to a report by the New York City comptroller. The same report found that a family would need to earn more than $300,000 a year for childcare to meet the federal affordability benchmark.

Liss said the program is intended not only to reduce those costs, but also to strengthen early childhood education and make it easier for parents to remain in the workforce.

“2-K is really our first step at moving toward a fully universal child care system, one where families with children under five would have access to free high-quality care,” she added.

The initiative represents the city’s first major expansion of universal childcare since the launch of free 3-K in 2017. Officials plan to increase the 2-K program to 12,000 seats next year, with Mamdani pledging to bring 2-K citywide by the end of his term.

However, as parents rush to submit applications, some nursery schools in greater Riverdale have opted out of free 2-K and are still determining whether participation makes sense for their programs.

Many providers begin enrolling students nearly a year in advance, meaning classrooms for the coming school year were already full by the time details about 2-K became available.

Sylvia Fox, director of Yearling Nursery School in Riverdale, said her program had already completed enrollment for next fall when the opportunity became available.

“When I got the question if I wanted to participate, I indicated that I do not have capacity,” Fox said. “I had already enrolled all the children for my 2-year-old program.”

Beyond capacity concerns, Fox said providers have not yet received the same level of detail they were given when 3-K and pre-K were introduced, including information about reimbursement rates, staffing costs and long-term contracts.

According to Fox, many nursery schools already rely on a mix of city-funded and private-pay programs to remain financially viable. While free 3-K and pre-K have expanded access to early childhood education, she said the reimbursement rates attached to those programs often do not fully cover operating costs, forcing schools to make up the difference through tuition-paying families.

For schools that already operate 2-year-old programs, that creates additional uncertainty, she said. Directors must decide whether replacing private-pay seats with city-funded ones makes financial sense before knowing exactly how much funding will be provided.

Fox said the concern is especially acute for smaller providers, which often lack the financial reserves to absorb unexpected costs or delayed reimbursements.

At Riverdale Temple Nursery School, director Alexandra Abikzer said similar questions about funding and capacity factored into her decision not to participate in the initial rollout.

“With 3-K and pre-K, we got a budget, we knew how much money it was going to be per child, and then we got a five-year contract,” Abikzer said. “With this, it feels like there’s just not enough information.”

Liss acknowledged that some providers are still weighing whether to participate and said the city has been providing information on rates and contracts as those conversations continue.

“The city’s been working through contracting details directly with providers,” Liss said. “We’ve been discussing rates and providing them with all those details, so that they know whether to opt into the program with us.”

Abikzer said she remains interested in potentially participating in future years but would like additional information before committing.

Like Fox, she said planning for a school year often begins the previous fall, with tours, staffing decisions and enrollment taking place months before children arrive in classrooms. By the time the city announced details of 2-K, Riverdale Temple had also already filled its 2-year-old program for the next school year.

The school spent several weeks listed on the city’s MySchools portal as a participating 2-K site despite not offering the program this fall. Abikzer said parents began contacting the nursery school about enrollment and more than 70 families included Riverdale Temple in their 2-K applications program choices.

The listing was removed in mid-June, and the city said affected families that listed the Riverdale Temple in their top choices would be notified and given an opportunity to revise their applications to select another 2-K program.

Concerns about staffing have also emerged as the city prepares to expand the program, a sentiment both Bronx educators expressed.

In April, the New York City Council announced in a press release projected future enrollment of a universal child care system would require a workforce double in size, which currently stands between 33,000 and 40,000 early childhood educators.

Liss recognized that expanding the program will require investments beyond simply adding seats.

“To build a truly universal childcare system the city must continue growing and supporting the childcare workforce,” she said.

Liss said that includes sustaining wages for childcare workers, expanding access to certification and higher education programs, making training opportunities more accessible and helping connect prospective workers with jobs in the sector.

The administration views those investments as critical not only to the initial rollout of 2-K, but also to its planned expansion to 12,000 seats next year.

Keywords

free 2-K program,

NYC 2-K,

New York City childcare,

universal childcare,

Riverdale childcare,

Bronx early childhood education,

Community School District 10,

free preschool NYC,

childcare costs New York City,

Mayor Zohran Mamdani