Mayor Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday morning that New York City has filled its first 2,000 free 2-K seats for two-year-olds, the opening phase of a universal childcare program funded by a $1.2 billion state commitment. The seats begin in the fall, and officials said the program will expand to 12,000 seats next year.
The city received more than 5,700 applications for the roughly 2,000 seats, about three applicants for every opening, Mamdani said. Every family placed will save more than $20,000 per child per year on childcare. More than 80 percent of placed families received an offer to one of their top three choices, close to 60 percent received their first choice, and 99 percent received an offer to a program they had ranked, according to the mayor.
“Next month, 2,000 of New York’s cutest will begin learning, playing and growing at 2-K programs across four areas of our city, including right here in School District ten,” Mamdani said at Bedrock Preschool in the Bronx, where the announcement was held. Hochul said the offers would reach families “starting in 19 communities across New York City.”
The roughly 3,700 families who applied but were not placed will be added to waitlists for any program they ranked, officials said. Families who received offers must accept them by the end of August. Emi Liss, executive director of the Office to Support Child Care, said the city used a priority structure modeled on how children are admitted to 3-K, pre-K and kindergarten.
“The highest priority went to children who have siblings or are continuing students at programs, with families who live in the 2-K districts being prioritized as well,” Liss said. Applicants could list up to 12 program options, and placements within each priority group were made by lottery, she said. To apply, families provided only a child’s birth date and address.
Mamdani said the state committed the $1.2 billion within the administration’s first weeks in office. “On day eight, we stood together in Brooklyn announcing that the state would be committing $1,200,000,000,” he said, adding that the funding also went toward fixing complaints parents had raised about the 3-K program, including long travel distances, and toward childcare vouchers.
Hochul said her state budget this year allocated $4.5 billion for childcare and pre-K, including funding to expand pre-K to underserved parts of the state and pilot programs for infants in Monroe, Dutchess and Broome counties. She said she was committed to funding the program through next year but could not commit future budgets. “I can’t commit future budgets at this time, but I can tell you right now I’m excited about the growth of this,” she said. She said that since taking office she has directed $12 billion toward childcare that “had not been spent before.”
Asked about a study projecting the program could cost as much as $9 billion, Hochul said the state would conduct its own review. “We plan to do an independent verification of the actual costs required, not just an outside study,” she said. Mamdani said his focus was “actually on delivering this free childcare to families of two-year-olds.” He said the city has pledged that every two-year-old will have a seat by the end of four years.
New York City Public Schools Chancellor Kumar Samuels said the city was extending more than 2,000 offers to families for the 2026 school year. “For the first time ever, we are extending more than 2,000 offers to families for 2-K for the upcoming school year,” Samuels said. “Let that sink in for a moment.”
Following the childcare announcement, Mamdani took questions on other topics.
He was asked about the arrests over the weekend of a mother and grandmother accused of starving a 16-year-old autistic boy to death in their care, and about reporting that the city’s Administration for Children’s Services had closed a case on the family about two years earlier and that the boy had been pulled from public school two months before his death. Asked whether he would call for a probe into how ACS handled the case, Mamdani did not commit to one. “I know that this has been a focus for ACS and for our commissioner,” he said. “Our focus primarily is on that question of safety, but it is a conversation that continues internally.” He said he was appreciative of efforts to ensure the safety of the boy’s brother.
Mamdani was also asked about a City Council bill that would grant onetime payments to school paraprofessionals, and about the United Federation of Teachers president’s stated intention to wage “an all out war” if the bonuses were not backed. Mamdani did not say whether he would veto the legislation. He said paraprofessionals “do incredible and critical work” but that “conversations around compensation are better left at the bargaining table.” He added: “What has been told to me in terms of a legal analysis of this bill is that it is a violation of the Taylor law, and that continues to be the assessment that I am privy to.”
On the Mayor’s Fund, Mamdani confirmed he had removed the fund’s entire advisory board, a body of corporate leaders who had helped raise money for past mayoral priorities including universal pre-K. He said the move reflected “a commitment to a new era” and pointed to a direction announced in April. A new advisory board will bring together prior high-achieving donors alongside “those who oftentimes have not been at the heart of conversations of how philanthropy can build upon the work of public goods and public dollars,” he said. Mamdani said the fund had already received multimillion-dollar contributions over the past seven months aimed at delivering universal childcare.
Asked about City Council proposals to further regulate faster e-bikes and motorized scooters, Mamdani said he would wait to see the specifics. He referenced speaking with the mother of a young man killed while riding an illegal e-bike. “My heart just breaks for her and for all of the families who’ve had their children stolen from them as a result of this,” he said. “That bike is one that should never have been on our streets.” He said his first focus was on modes of transportation that are already illegal but available for purchase online.
Featured image: NYC Mayor's Office
