Last week, city officials announced more than 1,000 new 3-K seats in neighborhoods with high demand, and launched 2,000 free 2-K seats. The move is intended to drive New York toward offering universal childcare for families in areas across the Five Boroughs.
“Put simply, universal child care will transform our city in a way that will be felt by every single New Yorker. As we expand access to 3-K, as we launch, for the first time in city history, free 2-K we are making what Wall Street would describe as a good investment,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani at a press conference on March 11.
There were just over 57,700 4-year-olds, 45,300 3-year-olds, and 6,400 infants and toddlers enrolled in the city’s Department of Education-funded seats in 2025, according to recent city council numbers. The city’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) also supports about 109,000 children with child care vouchers.
The additional 3K seats will be across 56 zip codes that have historically seen higher demand, like Staten Island, Western Queens, South Bronx, and South Brooklyn.
“We know that the earliest years of a child’s life are the most important ones. And so, academic rigor should begin in every child’s first classroom to lay the foundation for future success and for lifelong learning. For too many families, the promise of 3-K has not always matched the reality,” said New York City Public Schools Chancellor Kamar H. Samuels. “This expansion is more than about numbers. It’s about making the system function the way it always was meant to. So that families can find high-quality early childhood education close to home.”
Meanwhile, the 2K seats (approximately 12,000 children) will be available in four boroughs, specifically school district 6 in Washington Heights and Inwood; school district 10 in Fordham and Kingsbridge in the Bronx; school districts 18 and 23 in Canarsie, Brownsville, and East Flatbush; and school district 27 in Richmond Hill and the Rockaways in Queens.
Staten Island isn’t included in the initial 2K care rollout, which reportedly made many in the borough feel snubbed. Mamdani noted that there is a chief focus on offering seats within a preferred community and closer to home for parents concerned about transportation, especially in a more isolated borough like Staten Island.
“A seat [in] a 3-K program does not do much to lift the burdens off of working families’ backs when a working parent has to take a bus and two subways just to get to that seat,” he said.
The application deadline has passed for pre-K and 3-K admissions. Families will start receiving offers for pre-K placements on May 12 and 3-K placements on May 19. If you missed the deadline, families can still participate in admissions by applying to the waitlist. Please visit Myschools.nyc to search and join waitlists.
The 2-K admissions process is slated to begin this summer, and seats should be open in September 2026.