Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday that 10,000 additional free 2-K seats will be available across New York City beginning in fall 2027.
The expansion will bring free child care and early education for 2-year-olds to every school district in the Bronx and Staten Island, along with additional neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan.
The expansion will bring the total number of 2-K seats citywide to more than 12,000, covering 22 of the city’s 32 geographic school districts.
In Brooklyn, newly included neighborhoods include Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, East New York, Bushwick, Bay Ridge and Coney Island, among others.
The program initially launched this fall with approximately 2,000 seats across five school districts. According to the city, more than 5,700 applications were submitted, highlighting the demand for affordable child care.
A $1.2 billion state investment backs the expansion and is part of the administration’s broader goal of providing universal childcare for children from six weeks to 5 years old.
The city says childcare for a 2-year-old can cost an estimated $26,000 annually in New York City, making the free program a potential source of significant savings for working families.
The Day Care Council of New York welcomed the expansion but raised concerns about long-term funding, noting that funding has only been identified for two years. The organization also called for better compensation for early childhood educators and additional support for child care providers.
The city says it is working to strengthen the system by improving contracts with childcare providers and hiring more than 200 staff members to support early childhood education programs.
Free 2-K will continue to be offered through childcare centers and licensed home-based providers, with full-day, full-year care as the default model.
Families will have to wait until fall 2027 to access the additional seats. Details about the application process are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
For more information, visit nyc.gov/childcare.
