{"id":376977,"date":"2026-10-19T16:21:02","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T16:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/376977\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T16:21:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T16:21:02","slug":"these-are-the-nyc-neighborhoods-that-will-get-free-2-k-next-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/376977\/","title":{"rendered":"These are the NYC neighborhoods that will get free 2-K next fall"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every school district in the Bronx and Staten Island will offer free preschool seats<\/a> for 2-year-olds next fall, the city announced Monday, as\u00a0part of the planned expansion of the city\u2019s 2-K program, which also includes more slots in Crown Heights, East Harlem and Corona.<\/p>\n

The city will add another 10,000 seats across the boroughs and increase the number of seats in school districts that debuted 2-K this year to 12,000 total by the start of the next school year.<\/p>\n

The much-anticipated release is the latest move by Mayor Zohran Mamdani to build his promised universal childcare system. Earlier this month, the city also began moving thousands of families off a ballooning waitlist<\/a> for subsidized childcare and said it would pay all fees associated with those vouchers \u2014 making childcare entirely free<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor far too many New York City families, the joy of welcoming a child comes with a terrifying set of questions: How will I afford child care? Will I need to give up my job? Will I be forced to leave the city I love? Today, for 10,000 more families, we have an answer,\u201d Mamdani said in a statement. \u201cFamilies have told us what they need. Together with Governor Hochul, we are delivering.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2-K program will be funded with a $1.2 billion investment<\/a> by state taxpayers, after Gov. Kathy Hochul promised to cover the first two years of the expansion. Mamdani promised all 2-year-olds who want a seat would get one by the end of his term, but the governor has not said how much the state would contribute after the second year.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerations of parents have had to contend with the stress of child care costs in this city and state \u2013 but thanks to our partnership with Mayor Mamdani, that\u2019s changing,\u201d Hochul said in a statement. \u201cThis is how we deliver real relief for working families, and make sure our kids get the best possible start in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hochul said on Monday she would do \u201cwhatever it takes\u201d to keep 2-K going and did not rule out a potential tax increase to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aWe didn’t come this far to turn back now. We’re going all the way. Universal means universal, so I am committed to it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

City officials said the additional neighborhoods that will offer 2-K were picked based on demand and provider capacity. Next year, 22 out of 32 school districts will offer the program. Most programs will run for the full day and year-round. The city\u2019s existing 3-K and preK programs for 3- and 4-year-olds only provide free care for 6 hours and through the school year.<\/p>\n

The parent advocacy group New Yorkers United for Child Care is pushing the city to make 3-K and preK year-round programs that run 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. to match the 2-K model. The group said this would cost the city another $735 million<\/a> a year to extend the programs\u2019 hours for 81,500 kids.<\/p>\n

The city will release a survey for current public preschool providers and a request for information<\/a> for new providers interested in offering 2-K within the next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have learned valuable lessons from parents and providers as we launched the first 2,000 seats this year,\u201d said Emmy Liss, executive director of the Mayor\u2019s Office of Child Care and Early Childhood Education. \u201cContinued engagement with families, educators and communities will inform and strengthen the program as we expand.\u201d<\/p>\n

City officials said the Department of Education will hire 200 additonal staffers to help process contracts and shorten payment wait times. That\u2019s after severe payment delays<\/a> marred the launch of 2-K this year.<\/p>\n

The city plans to release details on when parents can apply in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

The following school districts will get 2-K next year:<\/p>\n

Manhattan<\/p>\n

School District 4: East Harlem; Randall\u2019s IslandSchool District 5: Central Harlem; East Harlem; Manhattanville \/ West Harlem; Morningside Heights; Hamilton Heights \/ Sugar Hill<\/p>\n

Brooklyn<\/p>\n

School District 16: Bedford-Stuyvesant, including Stuyvesant Heights; as well as parts of northern Crown Heights and Ocean HillSchool District 17: Crown Heights; Prospect Lefferts Gardens; Wingate; Prospect Heights; Flatbush; East Flatbush; as well as parts of Erasmus, Farragut, Rugby, Remsen Village, Ocean Hill and BrownsvilleSchool District 19: East New York; New Lots; Cypress Hills; City Line; Spring Creek; Starrett City; as well as parts of Ocean Hill, Brownsville and CanarsieSchool District 20: Bay Ridge; Fort Hamilton; Dyker Heights; Bath Beach; as well as parts of Bensonhurst, Borough Park, Sunset Park, Kensington, Gravesend, Mapleton \/ western Midwood and western FlatbushSchool District 21: Coney Island; Sea Gate; Brighton Beach; Gravesend; Homecrest; Mapleton \/ Ocean Parkway; Midwood; as well as parts of Bensonhurst, Borough Park, Madison and western FlatbushSchool District 32: Bushwick; as well as parts of East Williamsburg and northern Bedford-Stuyvesant<\/p>\n

Queens<\/p>\n

School District 24: Corona, including North Corona; Elmhurst; Maspeth; Middle Village; Ridgewood; Glendale; Sunnyside; Woodside; as well as parts of Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, Rego Park, Woodhaven, Forest Hills and Long Island CitySchool District 28: Rego Park; Forest Hills; Kew Gardens; Briarwood; Jamaica Hills; Jamaica; South Jamaica; Richmond Hill; South Richmond Hill; South Ozone Park; Baisley Park; Rochdale Village; Springfield Gardens; as well as parts of Kew Gardens Hills, Hillcrest, St. Albans, Glendale, Corona and ElmhurstSchool District 29: Queens Village; Cambria Heights; Hollis; St. Albans; Laurelton; Rosedale; Springfield Gardens; Brookville; portions of Bellerose, Jamaica Estates, Holliswood, Hillcrest, Jamaica Hills, Jamaica and South Jamaica<\/p>\n

This story has been updated with additional informaion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every school district in the Bronx and Staten Island will offer free preschool seats for 2-year-olds next fall,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-376977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376977","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=376977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}