CITYWIDE – WHEN THE CITY’S pilot of free daycare for 2-year-olds launches this fall, hours will run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, all year long, in order to give full coverage to working and student parents, Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed on Thursday during a press conference in Brownsville, joined by state Sens. Roxanne Persaud and Jabari Brisport and Assemblymember Latrice Walker.
This move is expected to save working families up to $20,000 a year in childcare costs, the mayor said, and is being funded with the help of $1.2 million from the state. The initial pilot program will offer 2,000 seats, mostly at existing providers. Emmy Liss, executive director of the Office of Child Care and Early Childhood Education, also said the city was looking into expanding hours at daycare programs for 3-year-olds, most of which currently operate on a regular school day schedule.
The mayor also asked parents citywide to respond to the NYC Parents Survey, which is seeking opinions on childcare for young children and is available online on the city’s website.
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