New York City plans to expand its free 2-year-old child care program to Staten Island and the Bronx next school year, adding 10,000 new seats as part of an effort to make child care more affordable for working families. Mayor Zorhan Mamdani announced the expansion on Monday, highlighting the program as a cornerstone of his broader affordability agenda.

The 2-K initiative, which began this school year with 2,000 seats concentrated in four predominantly working-class neighborhoods, is expected to now cover more than half of the city’s 32 school districts, including all of Staten Island and the Bronx. Wealthier areas in Manhattan and Brooklyn are not set to receive new seats in the immediate expansion, but Mamdani has committed to offering every 2-year-old in the city a spot by 2029.

At a trampoline park in the Bronx, Mamdani and New York State Governor Kathy Hochul promoted the expansion. Hochul reaffirmed the state’s financial support for the program’s first two years and pledged continued funding if re-elected next month. The program’s annual cost could eventually reach $9 billion, and while Mamdani has proposed raising personal income taxes on millionaires to cover future expenses, Hochul has expressed reluctance to pursue that immediately. She maintained that the initial two years would be funded through existing revenues and emphasized a commitment to making the program truly universal.

The expansion follows the city’s phased rollout model used previously by the 3-K program, which gradually increased coverage across districts. While this approach has successfully broadened access, it has also created challenges such as surplus seats in some neighborhoods due to uneven local demand. Experts note that some families opt to travel further for free care, but convenience remains a significant factor that could affect enrollment patterns as the program scales citywide.

Child care providers, including early childhood centers and home day cares popular in working-class communities, have raised concerns about the program’s management and funding. Providers have struggled with delayed reimbursements that create financial strain, and many have long criticized payment rates that have not kept pace with inflation. The city recently agreed to a 2 percent contract increase for early childhood centers and plans to hire 200 new workers to improve payment processing and stabilize the provider system.

Lori Cangiolose, owner of an early childhood center on Staten Island, said she expects to join the city’s 2-K program despite concerns about losing private-paying families. Cangiolose described the difficulty of relying almost exclusively on city funding, which is often delayed, and said, “We are giving up our businesses to the city.”

Policy analysts also urge that as the program grows, attention should be paid to raising wages for child care workers, who frequently earn near minimum wage, and streamlining the process for home day care providers to participate. Lauren Melodia of the Center for New York City Affairs emphasized the importance of creating clear pathways for family care providers to join the program to meet expanded demand.

Alongside the 2-K expansion, the city is working to reduce a waiting list of over 25,000 low-income families seeking child care vouchers and recently announced plans to move more than 10,000 children from that list into care. The city already offers free preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, and officials continue to adjust seat allocations to better match neighborhood needs, though forecasting demand remains complex given families’ diverse preferences.