{"id":154436,"date":"2026-03-05T20:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T20:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/154436\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T20:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T20:08:07","slug":"nyc-earmarked-400m-for-dozens-of-preschools-that-were-never-opened-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/154436\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC earmarked $400M for dozens of preschools that were never opened: records"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York City planned to shell out roughly $400 million total to renovate more than two dozen \u201cghost\u201d preschool buildings<\/a> that have been mysteriously sitting empty with no update from officials, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n

Records show the city has already spent millions of taxpayer dollars on the 25-plus vacant sites, once designated to be built as pre-K or 3-K centers \u2014 though officials refused to reveal exactly how much has been poured into them so far.<\/p>\n

The massive overall sum was earmarked to build out the 27 facilities, which were set to be completed between August 2020 and September 2025 as part of an expansion of the city\u2019s free \u201c3K for All\u201d program under former Mayor Bill de Blasio.<\/p>\n

More than two dozen planned city-run preschools cost millions of taxpayers dollars to build \u2013 but stayed empty for years with no update to local parents competing for limited seats, The Post has learned. NYPost<\/p>\n

But the buildings have remained empty to date \u2014 even as the city continues paying an unknown amount in rent to various private landlords who own the properties, The Post exclusively reported<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n

One of the planned preschools, in College Point, Queens, had the highest anticipated total price tag of more than $28 million, according to the Department of Education\u2019s FY2020-24 capital plan report finalized last summer.<\/p>\n

The city poured at least nearly $16 million in construction work for a \u201c3K center fit out\u201d of the building at 18-31 131st St. \u2014 including a \u201cfull interior renovation\u201d and an outdoor play area \u2014 but it still hasn\u2019t opened despite a September 2022 target completion date, records show.<\/p>\n

Community organizers there said parents repeatedly asked the city for updates on the planned early childhood education center.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was much interest and frequent requests for more information by local families who thought of it as an easily accessible site,\u201d reps for the group A Better College Point Civic Association lamented to The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you know, it currently remains closed and empty \u2013 even though we could use the seats.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than $5.8 million in construction work has been completed at one unopened Brooklyn site since 2022, permits show. Google Maps<\/p>\n

At least $13.4 million in construction costs were shelled out on another expensive project in Ridgewood, Queens, that was designated as a 3-K center, building permits show.<\/p>\n

The facility was slated to cost the city $20 million total and be completed in September 2023 \u2014 but never opened and is now being operated by Success Academy Charter Schools, records show.<\/p>\n

The Post\u2019s findings come as parents compete for limited city-run early childhood education seats close to home \u2014 leaving some with no other option than to turn to expensive private providers.<\/p>\n

One city-run school on the Upper East Side set to open in 2024 had been sitting empty for so long that a Post investigation into the site<\/a> prompted Mayor Zohran Mamdani to open the location just three weeks later.<\/a><\/p>\n

The school \u201ccurrently remains closed and empty \u2013 even though we could use the seats,\u201d the A Better College Point Civic Association told The Post. Google Maps<\/p>\n

The 27 costly yet still-unopened sites were part of a larger list of 47 \u201c3K initiative projects\u201d laid out in the agency\u2019s capital plan report.<\/p>\n

One facility, 129 Van Brunt St. on the Columbia Street waterfront in Brooklyn \u2014 where young families face waitlists of more than 100 students for a nearby preschool seat \u2014 <\/p>\n

2022, out of a total $18 million earmarked for the location, permits show.<\/p>\n

The site\u00a0is still being \u201cevaluated for potential use,\u201d the DOE told The Post in a statement.<\/p>\n

Last summer, a rep for the agency under then-Mayor Eric Adams, revealed to parents that there were\u00a0no plans to open the school \u201cbased on current enrollment data and application trends in the surrounding area,\u201d according to July 2025 emails obtained by The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fate of another planned preschool at 1010 Third Ave. in Manhattan \u2014 which underwent more than $6.4 million in repairs, with a total anticipated price tag of $18.8 million \u2014 has similarly yet to be determined, the agency said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re working to create plans for all of those,\u201d NYC Public Schools\u2019 Deputy Chancellor for Early Childhood Education Simone Hawkins said during a City Council hearing Monday as she confirmed The Post\u2019s reporting that the 27 centers remain unopened.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome sites were commissioned for development by prior administrations without corresponding funding allocated for services, decisions we are not in position to speak to,\u201d a DOE spokesperson added to The Post after the hearing.<\/p>\n

The agency representative insisted some vacant locations are \u201coften still under active development,\u201d waiting on permit approvals and other \u201coperational requirements\u201d to be met before programming can launch.<\/p>\n

One city-run school on the Upper East Side set to open in 2024 had been sitting empty for so long that a Post investigation into the site prompted Mayor Zohran Mamdani to open the location just three weeks later. Matthew McDermott for NY Post<\/p>\n

But the DOE wouldn\u2019t say if any of the site would be opening in the next year, noting \u201cplans will be shared publicly once timelines and approvals are confirmed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Council Member Lincoln Restler\u00a0said that despite the previous Adams administration\u00a0vowing there was limited demand for 3K seats and thousands of vacancies, some parents were only offered inaccessible spots located miles away.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur office receives hundreds of calls every year from parents who were only offered seats a long bus ride away, or declined to apply at all given limited offerings,\u201d Restler told constituents in an email Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a new mayor who is deeply committed to universal childcare, we are doing our best to add 3K seats in neighborhoods where they are most needed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The DOE is \u201cactively working to ensure that every family has access to quality 3-K and Pre-K programming within their community, as evidenced by the recent opening of a new Pre-K and 3-K site on the Upper East Side,\u201d\u00a0a spokesperson\u00a0told The Post in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we review applications and identify areas where capacity is needed, we will continue to evaluate all vacant sites for the best, most responsible use, based on site readiness and community need.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York City planned to shell out roughly $400 million total to renovate more than two dozen \u201cghost\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3208,4337,68,57,9,197,56,63,65,64,51259,58,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-154436","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-childcare","9":"tag-department-of-education","10":"tag-exclusive","11":"tag-metro","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city-life","14":"tag-ny","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-nyc-headlines","17":"tag-nyc-news","18":"tag-preschools","19":"tag-us-news","20":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}