HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) — Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul have unveiled the first neighborhoods to get free day care for 2-year-olds under the 2-Care program starting this fall.
Mamdani joined Hochul and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels to tour the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling, a 2-K provider slated for Harlem.
The first four communities that will receive 2,000 2-K seats this fall are Washington Heights and Inwood, Fordham and Kingsbridge, East Brooklyn including Canarsie, Brownsville and Ocean Hill, and Ozone Park and the Rockaways.
“Launching 2-K in these four neighborhoods is just the beginning of our work to put money back in New Yorkers’ pockets, strengthen our entire economy and help more families build their lives here,” Mamdani said.
The program is expected to be fully phased in by the 2029-30 school year.
Hochul announced in January that the state would fund day care for 2-year-olds and up, including spending $4.5 billion on child care in the upcoming fiscal year.
Hochul is committing to fully fund the first two years of the program in New York City, and wants universal government-funded child care statewide.
“As New York’s first mom Governor, achieving affordable, universal child care has been a key priority for my administration and we are doing the work to see it through,” Hochul said. “That’s why we didn’t hesitate to partner with New York City to lay the groundwork and fund not one, but two years to realize the full implementation of free child care for all two-year-olds across the city.”
Mamdani campaigned on a promise of free child care for all from 6 weeks to 5 years old, regardless of household income. But providing care to cover children as young as six weeks could cost as much as $15 billion annually to fully implement statewide.
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