Mayor Mamdani and Gov. Hochul announced on Oct. 19 that 2-K, the free full-day child care and early education program for 2-year-olds, will expand across the Bronx and Staten Island. Starting in fall 2027, 10,000 seats will be added, benefiting more than 12,000 children. Details on how families can apply will be announced in the coming weeks.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Oct. 19 that 2-K, the free child care and early education program for 2-year-olds, will expand across the Bronx and Staten Island. Starting in fall 2027, 10,000 new seats will open, benefiting more than 12,000 children and families. The state will back the program with $1.2 billion.
2-K is a free, full-day, year-round program offered at center-based child care facilities and licensed family child care providers. The first phase, which launched this fall, operates about 2,000 seats in five school districts (6, 10, 18, 23 and 27) and drew more than 5,700 applicants. The city describes 2-K as a step toward universal child care from 6 weeks old to age 5.
With the expansion, 17 more of the city's 32 school districts will be added, bringing the total to 22. The newly included areas are all of the Bronx and all of Staten Island; Manhattan's Districts 4 and 5; Brooklyn's Districts 16, 17, 19, 20, 21 and 32; and Queens' Districts 24, 28 and 29. The five existing districts will also increase their capacity.
The application process for families for fall 2027 will be announced in the coming weeks. The city said that within a week of the announcement, it will release a survey for child care providers currently under contract with the city Department of Education, as well as a request for information (RFI) to recruit new providers. Child care options for children under 5 are available at nyc.gov/childcare.