{"id":215326,"date":"2026-04-30T12:57:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T12:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/215326\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T12:57:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T12:57:09","slug":"mamdani-opens-applications-for-nycs-first-free-childcare-program-for-city-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/215326\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani opens applications for NYC\u2019s first free childcare program for city workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"man\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks last month at the construction site of a new childcare center for city workers at the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building in Lower Manhattan.<\/p>\n

Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Applications are now open for \u201cThe Little Apple<\/a>,\u201d the city\u2019s first free, full-day, full-year, on-site childcare\u00a0pilot program for municipal workers<\/a> in Manhattan, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The program has room for about 40 children ages 6 weeks to 3 years and will operate out of the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building in Lower Manhattan, where more than 2,000 employees from a dozen city agencies are based.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dedicated public servants who keep this city running deserve high-quality,\u00a0free\u00a0childcare\u00a0that meets the needs of their busy schedules \u2014 that is exactly what \u2018The Little Apple\u2019 will do,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cWe hope this center will serve as a model for city government at its best, where a strong start for New York\u2019s Cutest is a guarantee and not a luxury.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program will operate on the ground floor of the building\u2019s North Tower and provide year-round care Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The $10 million renovation is underway to construct a 4,000-square-foot childcare facility, with completion expected this fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Rendering of a childare room as part of the pilot program.Bolt Architecture\/NYC DCAS<\/p>\n

Imagine Early Learning Centers, which officials said has more than two decades of early childhood education, will operate the program. It currently runs 12 childcare centers across the metro area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the launch of the application period and selection of the vendor to operate The Little Apple, we are taking monumental steps forward and transforming what child care looks like in a modern workforce,\u201d Department of Citywide Administrative\u00a0Services (DCAS) Commissioner Yume Kitasei said.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re excited to work with Imagine Early Learning Centers to open the doors to the city\u2019s first The Little Apple site this fall.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Another rendering of a room that is part of the pilot program.Bolt Architecture\/NYC DCAS<\/p>\n

The move builds on the mayor\u2019s ongoing mission to provide free universal childcare in NYC. Gov. Kathy Hochul has expressed support for the program. Reps from the Mamdani administration said the pilot is expected to save parents upwards of around $20,000 a year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How to apply and eligibility requirements\u00a0<\/p>\n

Applications for eligible families are open\u00a0online<\/a>\u00a0now through\u00a0May 15, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To be eligible, employees must:\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Be a full-time DCAS employee regardless of work location or a full-time city employee who is assigned to 1 Centre Street.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Be a parent or legal guardian of a child between the ages of 6 weeks (as of Sept. 1, 2026) and three years old (as of Dec. 31, 2026). \u00a0<\/p>\n

Only one application should be submitted per family, but it may include multiple children. Officials said families will be selected by random lottery, with a limited number of seats reserved for applicants seeking five-day\/week enrollment. Selected participants will be notified in June. Families not selected will be placed on a waitlist and contacted if space becomes available.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Full eligibility details and the application portal are available at nyc.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks last month at the construction site of a new childcare center for city workers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":215327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,84947,81029,67,80302,9,24,63,82],"class_list":["post-215326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-childcare-for-city-workers","tag-dcas","tag-education","tag-free-childcare-initiative","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215326","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=215326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}