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Promoting excellence in early care and education services for New York State children and families, through education, advocacy and the support of the profession.

All children in New York State have access to high quality early care and education programs with sufficient resources to meet children’s physical, educational, and social/emotional needs in environments that support diversity.

• NYSED Office of Early Learning Video Series: A Guide for Educators Serving Children in Prekindergarten through 2nd Grade

The National Association of the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is the world’s largest organization working on behalf of young children. NAEYC’s mission is to serve and act on behalf of the needs, rights and well-being of all young children with primary focus on the provision of educational and developmental services and resources.

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The Office of Early Learning provides oversight and technical support to school districts in the development, implementation and evaluation of programs and policies related to educating students in prekindergarten to third grade that are aligned with the NYS Board of Regents Early Childhood Policy.

State-Administered Prekindergarten Programs

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Early Childhood Education (Birth to 5)

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The  NYC Online Certified Teacher Application  is now open for the 2024-25 school year! If you currently hold or will hold a New York State teaching certification by September 2024, you should apply through the NYC Online Certified Teacher Application for Early Childhood teaching opportunities now. 

The Early Childhood Teacher Finder , the application for not-yet-certified teacher candidates, is now open for the 2024-25 school year. If you are interested in teaching early childhood and will not be certified by September 2024, please complete an application via the Early Childhood Teacher Finder to apply for positions at our NYCPS Early Childhood Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) . 

3-K for All Expansion Announcement

In September 2022, the City expanded to offer 3-K to as many families as possible in the remaining sixteen school districts.

• In school districts 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, 19, 23, 27, 31, and 32, there is a 3-K seat for every three-year-old
• In school districts 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, and 30, NYC Public Schools will offer 3-K seats to as many three-year-olds as possible 

Types of Programs

Through the historic  Pre-K for All and 3-K for All  initiatives, New York City is leading the nation in making free, full-day, high-quality pre-K and 3-K accessible to all of its four-year-olds, three-year-olds, and infants/toddlers—an initiative propelled by great teachers.  Pre-K for All and 3-K for All  teachers design dynamic classroom experiences that captivate New York City’s youngest learners and instill the critical vocabulary, oral language, and problem-solving skills they need to flourish in kindergarten and beyond.

Pre-K for All and 3-K for All programs operate in a variety of settings. Early childhood educators can teach in one of 650+ district school programs or in one of more than 1,000 community-based  New York City Early Childhood Education Centers (NYCEECs) , operated by a diverse range of community-based organizations.

New York City Early Education Centers and Family Child Care Networks are independent organizations that contract with New York City Public Schools to provide free, full-day, high-quality early childhood programs for four-year-olds, three-year-olds, and infants/toddlers. These partnerships offer diverse options for families in all five boroughs.

Earn Your Early Childhood Certification

Applicants who want to teach pre-K or 3-K in a district school must hold or be on track to hold one of the following New York State teaching certificates to be eligible to apply:

• Early Childhood (Birth – Grade 2)
• Nursery, Kindergarten and Grades 1 – 6 (N – 6)
• Prekindergarten – Grade 6 (P – 6)
• Students with Disabilities (Birth – Grade 2)

To teach in a district school, candidates must hold one of the certificates listed above by September 1 of upcoming school year .

To teach in a CBO , candidates must either hold or be on track to earning one of the certificates above. It is an opportunity for educators passionate about working with young children to earn their early childhood certification while teaching. CBO Study Plan teachers must complete their certification within three years of being hired.

For more details on certification, please visit the NY State Department of Education website.

Diverse Teaching Opportunities

Pre-K for All and 3-K for All offer diverse teaching opportunities for educators of all certification levels. Learn more by visiting Applications + FAQs to find your pathway and apply now.

All About 3-K for All and Pre-K for All 

Pathways to the classroom, where to teach, applications + faqs, meet our teachers, upcoming events, nyc public schools teacher candidate information session, nyc career and technical education general information session.

Supported Asset 10 Families

Thriving asset 10 children, a stronger asset 10 new york.

Ensuring families have health and developmental care.

Ensuring families have access to high-quality affordable child care.

Increasing economic security and stability for families.

Building an early care system that works for all families.

The First Three Years of a

Child’s life are critical.

These years lay the groundwork for the best possible outcomes throughout their lives.

But across New York State, hundreds of thousands of families are prevented from accessing the high-quality programs, services, and opportunities they need to raise healthy and thriving children.

We aim to change that.

By the Numbers:

of brain growth happens in the first 3 years of a child’s life.

of New York parents are concerned about their child being educationally and socially prepared for pre-k/kindergarten.

“Investing in high-quality early childhood programs is a window to the brightest possible future for New York’s children.”

Become an Advocate

Get the latest data and policy asks centering access to affordable and high-quality early childhood education programs and childcare delivered straight to your inbox.

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New York Works for Children (NYWFC) is the state's integrated professional development system for the early childhood and school age workforce.

10 years and counting.

It is amazing to reflect on the change and growth of The Aspire Registry over the last 10 years.

The CBK and ELG are key resources for professionals working with young children.

Watch this short video to learn more about The Aspire Registry.

Get help now

Get back to this page: https://access.nyc.gov/programs/early-learn/

Free or low-cost child care for children six weeks to two years old

Infants and toddlers | nyc department of education (doe), 1. how it works.

EarlyLearn programs provide free or low-cost child care and education for children six weeks to two years old. There are hundreds of programs in New York City that offer safe and positive learning environments for children.

• Infant and Toddler programs for children aged six weeks to two years. These take place in centers or homes for up to 10 hours a day.
• Early Head Start programs for pregnant mothers, infants, and toddlers. These provide services for at least eight hours a day.
• If you qualify and there is a seat available, your child can begin a program anytime during the year.
• As long as your child has legal status, they are eligible for care regardless of the parents’ legal status.
• Eligibility is based on your family’s income, size, and needs.
• Families will need to pay some of the cost of child care if they do not get Cash Assistance, are not in foster care, or are not homeless.

Next section:

2. Determine Your Eligibility

More ways to get help with this program

Visit the website

Get more information about childcare from NYCDOE .

2. Determine your eligibility

Early Head Start Programs

The best way to find out if your family is eligible for Early Head Start is to contact a program directly. Your family may qualify for Early Head Start if at least one of these categories applies to you:

• You live in temporary housing
• You receive HRA Cash Assistance
• You receive SSI (Supplemental Security Insurance)
• You are enrolling a child who is in foster care
• You may also qualify if your household income is at or below these amounts:

Infant/Toddler Programs

You must have at least one of these approved “reasons for care”:

• You work 10+ hours per week
• You are in an educational or vocational training program
• You are starting to look for work or have been looking for work for up to 6 months. This includes looking for work while receiving unemployment
• You are attending services for domestic violence
• You are receiving treatment for substance abuse
• You may qualify if your household income is at or below these amounts:

Take a short survey to see if you might be eligible for this or 30 other programs.

3. How to Apply

3. How to apply

Here are your options..

Apply online

Apply using the MyCity app .

Apply by mail

• Download the application in your language.
• Complete and mail it to: NYC DOE Family Welcome Center 333 7th Ave 12th floor New York NY 10001

If you already get HRA benefits, apply at your assigned HRA Benefits Access Center instead.

Download the application

Apply in person

• Click “More Filters” and check any of the options under “EarlyLearn”.
• Then, type in your home address to find a program near you.
• Visit a program. Staff will help you complete the application.

Find a program

Come back to it later. We can send you a link to this page to help you get back to it when you’re ready.

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Get occasional emails about benefits news, upcoming enrollment periods, and deadlines. Translations are available in 11 languages.

Early Childhood Education

AFC’s Early Childhood Education Project provides individual case assistance, community education, and policy advocacy to improve access and equity in early childhood education so that all children enter kindergarten prepared to succeed.

The first five years of children’s lives are a crucial period in their development. We help families navigate the City’s various early childhood education programs and work to remove barriers that prevent low-income families from accessing services during these key years, with a focus on young children with developmental delays or disabilities, children from immigrant families, and children in temporary housing.

• Resources from our 'Transition to Kindergarten' webinar series

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Betty Baez Melo

Project Director (she/her/ella)

Diana Imbert

Staff Attorney

Brittney Melvin

Get in touch

[email protected]

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Gabriel's Story

Gabriel, a kindergarten student with speech delays, needed a bilingual class and speech therapy but the DOE wasn't responding to his mother's pleas for help.

Mia's Story

Now that she is in an appropriate program that can meet her needs, Mia loves preschool, has made enormous progress, and is no longer getting in trouble.

Julian's Story

When three-year-old Julian exhibited difficulty understanding language and expressing himself, his mother sought a special education evaluation. Although the DOE initially approved Julian to receive speech therapy, then they called to say he was no longer be eligible.

• AFC in the News

Jun 28, 2024

NYC budget deal partially restores early childhood spending, but advocates say gaps will persist

Jun 7, 2024

Padres y líderes piden ampliar programa de 3-K en NYC

• Press Statement

Response to the New York City FY 2025 Budget Agreement

• Testimony & Public Comment

May 15, 2024

AFC & the ARISE Coalition Testify on the New York City FY 2025 Executive Budget

Guides, tip sheets, and educational resources.

Learn more about early childhood education programs for New York City’s youngest learners, including the legal rights of young children with developmental delays or disabilities and services they can receive in Early Intervention, preschool special education, and kindergarten.

Early Childhood Education Programs: A Guide to Public Education Programs for 3 and 4 Year Olds

Transition to Kindergarten: A Guide for Students with Disabilities (Chinese)

Kindergarten Admissions: A Guide for Families of Children Born in 2019 (Spanish)

Webinars, workshops, and trainings

Our free trainings and workshops provide important information to help parents, communities, and professionals advocate effectively on behalf of their children

Applying for 3-K and Pre-K

12:00 PM EST–1:00 PM EST

Help AFC support every child's right to learn

Need Help Now?

Monday to Thursday 10 am to 4 pm

Information on programs' NAEYC Accreditation status:

NAEYC maintains a list of programs that are currently accredited to assist individuals in finding NAEYC-accredited programs in their area.

The Research Network is a Project of

Bridging Research, Policy & Practice

New York City's home for early childhood research and policy.

News & Announcements

New study recommends pathways to address early intervention shortage, lindsey bravo: new research network director, new research: supporting new york city’s early childhood educators in a global pandemic: challenges, innovations, and implications for professional learning, learn about the research network.

Research and policy partners coming together to share resources, build knowledge, and inspire action.

Participate

Subscribe to our mailing list today, use  or  contribute, funding partners.

The Research Network's funding partners see the value of collaboration. Through generous funding, researchers and policy makers work together to advance better policies and practices for New York City's young children and families.

Research Partners

The Research Network's research partners are dedicated to rigorous research with impact. The Research Network creates the space for research partners to collaborate with City agency leaders and funders to provide evidence for better policies and practices for New York City's young children and families.

Agency Partners

The Research Network's success depends on a deep collaboration with City agency officials who are dedicated to improving the well-being of young children. We are pleased to have the active participation from our partners.

NYC Early Childhood Research Network

Daycares in Manhattan, New York

We welcome you and your little one to our manhattan daycares..

KinderCare partners with families in Manhattan, NY to provide high-quality daycare at an affordable cost. Our approach is designed to inspire a love of learning in your child, creating a safe and supportive environment where they can build Confidence for Life. KinderCare teachers give children the freedom to be themselves, explore, and make friends.

Find one of our child care centers at a location near you!

Whether you are looking for part-time or full-time child care, KinderCare offers an affordable option with plenty of fun and learning. Currently we have 10 daycares & child care centers in or nearby Manhattan which can be found just below.

10 Daycares & Child Care Centers in Manhattan, NY

1. columbus avenue kindercare, 2. park avenue kindercare, 3. north williamsburg kindercare, 4. tribeca kindercare, 5. kindercare fidi nyc, 6. cobble hill kindercare, 7. park slope kindercare, 8. kindercare learning center at newark, 9. paramus kindercare, 10. manhasset kindercare.

KinderCare aims to protect your privacy online the way we protect your family in person, with care and caution. To improve the website experience, this site uses cookies as described in our  Cookie Notice . Click allow to consent to the use of this technology on our site. To learn more, please visit our  Legal Notices Page .

Career Development Resource Guide

Qualitystarsny, publications, core body of knowledge, credential programs, college and university degree programs and training resources, comparison of early childhood program standards, partner links.

EarlyChildhood.org is a one-stop information source for exploring careers in early childhood and school-age child care programs, as well as information on career advancement. This site also includes information that supports quality improvement. This website was developed by the  NYS Council on Children and Families Head Start Collaboration Project to support professional development and improve quality early childhood and school-age programs.

The Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) is pleased to share the following publications:

• NYS Early Learning Guidelines
• NYS Core Body of Knowledge
• QUALITYstarsNY Standards
• NYS Early Learning Alignment Crosswalk
• Developmentally Appropriate Practice Briefs

Please click here for information on CDA renewal .

NYS Child Care, After School, and Home Visiting Programs Locator

The Council on Children and Families maintains the NYS Child Care, After School, and Home Visiting Programs Locator. This website provides multiple tools and contact information to assist parents, new parents, and expectant families in their search for child care and services for young children.

A one-stop source of information on careers and career planning in early childhood and school-age programs.

A listing of the competencies that people working with children birth to age eight need to provide high quality services.

Information on programs that have been established to improve the competencies of people working with children and their families including: Children's Program Administrator Credential, NYS Early Learning Trainer Credential, Family Child Care Credential, Family Development Credential, Infant and Toddler Care and Education Credential, and the School-age Child Care Credential.

Easily searchable databases where you can find out information on degree programs related to early care and education available at colleges and universities in New York State, statewide training resources, and Credentialed early care and education trainers.

A database that allows the user to obtain information on program quality by comparing five different sets of standards by topic area.

QUALITYstarsNY is a Quality Rating and Improvement System developed by New York State for early care and education programs. The system, recognizes, encourages and rewards the improvement of quality in all child severing settings.

A listing with links to the websites of several national and state organizations of interest to people in early childhood and school-age programs.

A listing of New York State early childhood publications that are useful for early childhood professionals.

Enter a Search Term

Early childhood education, bs.

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Inspire Early Learners

From birth to second grade, early life experiences have a lasting impact on later success. Our bachelor’s of science in early childhood education was created to support the development of all young children, including those who are culturally, linguistically, and ability diverse, with a focus on using developmentally effective approaches to build a meaningful curriculum for our youngest learners. The Early Childhood Education program leads to a bachelor’s degree and the New York State Initial Teaching Certificate in early childhood education.

Be Ahead of the Class

• Embrace technology. You'll have the opportunity to practice real teaching using our virtual reality classroom simulator. We are one of the only schools in the region with this technology.
• Our teachers enter the field with experience. From your sophomore year, you’ll participate in immersive fieldwork and student teaching experience that include tutoring and small group instruction.
• Start your pathway to our Combined Degree Program. Over 90% of our students continue on to our 5th year Combined Degree Program in Special Education, Literacy, and TESOL. Get your bachelor’s and master’s degree, and at least two teaching certificates in just five years!
• Get hired! We have such strong partnerships with local school districts that our students are getting hired before they even graduate.

Take Courses Like…

Each of our Early Childhood Education programs is nationally recognized and leads to a bachelor's degree (BS) and the Initial Teaching Certificate in early childhood education (birth–grade 2). Early Childhood Education/Childhood Education majors also complete a 30-credit concentration biology, English, history, or mathematics on either campus, or Spanish on our New York City Campus.

• TCH 306 Creating Developmentally Appropriate Learning Experiences and Learning Environments in Early Childhood
• TCH 307 Early Childhood Arts, Humanities, Music, and Play: Processes and Practices
• TCH 312 Fieldwork I in Early Childhood Settings (Kindergarten)

Experiential Learning and Opportunities 

Because experience is key, starting in your junior year, you will participate in our Center for Professional Development (CPD) model where you will practice your teaching skills through the completion of your undergraduate program. Receive hands-on experience in schools one day a week in your junior year and 2–5 days during your senior year. You’ll observe and tutor students, as well as provide small and eventually whole group instruction. Not only will you be able to apply what you are learning in the classroom, but also have the opportunity to explore different grade levels as you proceed through the program. As a CPD candidate, you have a unique opportunity to foster professional relationships with mentor teachers, students, and school staff, all in support of the diverse population of the students that you are serving.

Choose Your Career

Day Care, Nursery School, Pre-School Teachers, or Elementary School Teacher through Grade 2

Where are Pace Graduates Employed?

NYC Department of Education, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester Public School Districts

of our graduates are employed

Highest Paid Education Graduates (Source: College Factual)

Special Education Job Placement (Source: Intelligent.com)

Search NYU Steinhardt

Early Childhood Education

Bachelor of science early childhood education and early childhood special education birth–grade 2, initial certification.

Prepare to teach young children at different developmental stages and with varying capacities and needs through course work and field experiences.

Master of Arts Early Childhood Education and Special Education Birth–Grade 2, Initial Certification

Learn to teach children of all ability levels during their youngest years, becoming eligible for early childhood special education certification, birth–grade 2.

Master of Arts Early Childhood Special Education Birth–Grade 2, Professional Certification

Teach children of all ability levels during their earliest years as you undertake extensive study of their development in multiple contexts.

Application Extended: Still Accepting Applications

Doctor of Philosophy Teaching and Learning

Become a first-rate scholar and practitioner in a focus area of your choosing, including literacy education, mathematics education, special education, and more.

Minor Teacher Education

Explore a career as a classroom teacher or in fields such as psychology, advocacy, or social work through the study of education and human development in this undergraduate minor.

• Campus Life
• Arts & Sciences

Early Childhood Education, M.S.

Start young children on the path to lifelong success as a thoughtful, compassionate educator. Build a foundation for using innovative technologies in the classroom.

• Multiple Curriculums »
• Tuition & Financial Aid »
• Online »

What You’ll Learn

The Early Childhood Education, M.S. is offered in online and blended options, making it ideal for working professionals and adult learners who want flexibility in their education.

You’ll become a reflective practitioner, focusing on putting what you learn in your courses to work in classrooms. Your technology-infused curriculum will help you engage your young students with the latest innovations in both teaching and learning.

New York Tech’s emphasis on diversity ensures that you’ll develop culturally responsive teaching practices and can work with diverse student populations—skills that are in great demand.

Career Options

• Childcare/Preschool Teacher
• Elementary School Teacher
• Preschool Administrator

Exceptional experiences. Outstanding outcomes.

Top 50 Best Value Online Graduate Education Programs. (Value Colleges)

Best Online Master's in Education Programs. ( U.S. News & World Report , 2022)

New York Tech education graduates are working in New York City schools.

Best Colleges for Veterans (Regional Universities - North) ( U.S. News & World Report )

Accreditation

How You’ll Succeed

Upon graduation, you’ll be eligible for New York State certification as a teacher of Early Childhood Education, birth to grade 2. In many instances, New York State certification can be applied towards requirements for teaching certification in other states. In addition, our graduates experience high success rates on New York State certification examinations (NYSTCE).

To further expand your employability, you also have the option to take an additional three courses to get an extension in bilingual education, or five courses for an extension in Bilingual Special Education.

The Master of Science in Early Childhood Education is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Related Programs

Adolescent Education (Initial/Professional Certification), M.A.T.

Bilingual School Counseling, Advanced Certificate

Psychology, B.S. / School Counseling, M.S.

Mental Health Counseling, Advanced Certificate

Interdisciplinary Studies, B.A., B.S., B.P.S.

Student Behavior Management, Advanced Certificate

Mental Health Counseling, M.S.

School Counseling, M.S.

Childhood Education, M.S.

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Thanks to Strong Fiscal Management and Joint Prioritization Between Adams Administration and City Council, Adopted Budget Delivers Major Investments in Early Childhood Education, Libraries, Cultural Institutions, Parks, and More

Mayor Adams, Speaker Adams Reach Handshake Agreement For Responsible, Balanced, And On-time Fiscal Year 2025 Budget That Invests In Future Of New York City

June 28, 2024

Video available at: https://youtu.be/H10m_AW2z90

Under Adams Administration, Early Childhood Education Seats at Highest Level in History, Budget Invests $100 Million More to Reimagine Programs by Adding Seats, Reducing Waitlist Times, Increasing Capacity of Special Education Seats, and Helping Families to Enroll

Adams Administration Invests $2 Billion in Affordable Housing to Bring City's Housing Capital Commitment to Record $26 Billion Adopted Budget Will Make New York City More Affordable for All New Yorkers

New York – New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Council Finance Chair Justin Brannan, members of the City Council, and senior members of the Adams administration today announced an agreement for an on-time, balanced, and fiscally-responsible $112.4 billion Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 that invests in the future of New York City. Thanks to the Adams administration's ongoing strong fiscal management and bolstered by better-than-expected revenue growth, the administration overcame unprecedented challenges in this budget cycle to stabilize the city's financial outlook and close a $7.1 billion budget gap.

Because of that steady, decisive decision making, this Adopted Budget allows the Adams administration and the City Council to reinvest in protecting public safety, rebuilding the city's economy, and making the city more livable for working-class people, including by investing in initiatives and programs that make New York City more affordable. As part of the budget agreement, the Adams administration and the City Council joined together to invest hundreds of millions of dollars of city resources in critical areas, including early childhood education, cultural organizations, libraries, parks, public safety, and more to deliver on shared priorities.

"We know New Yorkers, like all Americans, are struggling with an affordability crisis, so today, we are delivering a budget that invests in the future of our city and the working-class people who make New York City the greatest city in the world," said Mayor Adams . "Our city faced unprecedented challenges – a $7.1 billion budget gap that needed to be closed, a $4.9 billion humanitarian crisis, and hundreds of millions of dollars used to fund long-term programs with short-term stimulus dollars. Despite all this, the actions taken by our city have helped us arrive at a strong, on-time, and fiscally-responsible budget, which has allowed us to partner with the City Council to invest in the programs and services New Yorkers want and deserve, and, most importantly, that address the three things that cost them the most: housing, childcare, and health care. I am proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Speaker Adams and our Council partners to make key investments in New Yorkers and the programs that they rely on every day, with billions of dollars for early childhood education, cultural organizations, libraries, parks, public safety, housing, health care, transit, and more. Thank you to Speaker Adams and the Council for working with us to put the needs of New Yorkers first as we make our city safer, more affordable, and more livable."

"The Council is proud to reach an agreement with Mayor Adams to restore and secure funding for essential services that are critical for New Yorkers' health, safety, and well-being," said Speaker Adams . "These investments in affordable housing and homeownership, early childhood education and CUNY, libraries and cultural institutions, parks and sanitation, senior services and youth programs, mental health, and public safety programs support our residents in every community. Despite the challenges, the Council has never wavered from our commitment to investing in solutions, and we will continue to push the city to meet the scale of our challenges. I thank my colleagues in the Council for our collective work to secure the resources our communities deserve and deliver on the priorities of New Yorkers."

The City of New York faced major challenges in this budget cycle that drove gaps to unprecedented levels. Challenges included budget cliffs caused by expiring stimulus dollars that had been used to fund long-term programs, the rapidly expanding costs of housing and caring for more than 205,000 asylum seekers since the spring of 2022 – more than 65,000 of which are still in the city's care – with very limited assistance from the federal government, and costs related to settling long-neglected and overdue labor agreements with hard-working city employees. This all occurred against the expected slowdown in the national economy.

By taking decisive action early and remaining committed to the principles of strong fiscal management – including achieving budget savings and controlling spending – along with better-than-expected revenues, the Adams administration closed the $7.1 billion budget gap and stabilized the city's budget and fiscal outlook without layoffs, tax hikes, or major cuts to services.

By managing its way to a stronger fiscal position, the administration had already been positioned to hold school budgets harmless and safeguard more than $600 million in educational programs previously funded with short-term stimulus , make critical investments in adding more police officers to the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to keep New Yorkers safe , and protect cultural institutions .

On top of investments already announced in the November 2023 Financial Plan and the Preliminary and Executive Budgets, new investments in the FY25 Adopted Budget and joint priorities with the New York City Council include:

Launching the Early Childhood Strategic Plan with $100 Million Investment

Over the last two years, the City of New York has offered more seats than ever before with more families getting their top choices than ever before. With future increases in demand, the administration is prepared to add funding as needed so that every family who wants an early childhood seat will have access to one. As part of the budget process, the Adams administration and the City Council agreed to a multipronged strategic plan that will reimagine early childhood education and address longstanding systemic issues with the early childhood education program, once-and-for-all. This builds on Mayor Adams and Speaker Adams' recent announcement to launch a $5 million outreach effort to maximize the number of children enrolled. The strategic plan is supported by $100 million to:

• Reduce waitlists for Special Education Pre-K seats by creating new, city-run seats for children when providers do not have room ($30 million).
• Maximize take-up of extended day seats available to eligible families by expanding the investment made in the last Adopted Budget ($25 million).
• Support undocumented children and their families who are not eligible for federally subsidized extended day and yearly child care due to their immigration status through expanding the Promise NYC program ($25 million).
• Identify seats for more than 1,700 families who did not receive offers in the 2024-2025 school year for the Pre-K and 3-K application round ($20 million).
• Provide sustainable funding for the Mayor's Office of Child Care and Early Education , which was previously funded with philanthropic dollars to continue its work supporting the city's early childhood sector ($485,000).

Investing in an Equitable Education for All Students

In addition to investing over $600 million in new funding to protect critical programs that were funded with temporary stimulus dollars and protect schools with declining enrollment from budget reductions, the FY25 Adopted Budget builds on recently announced investments by:

• Restoring Summer Rising extended day and Friday programming for middle school participants ($19.6 million).
• Supporting community school programming ($14 million).
• Providing free MetroCards to this summer's Summer Youth Employment Program participants ($11 million).
• Investing in teacher recruitment efforts that are critical to meeting state mandated class-size legislation standards ($10 million).
• Continuing the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development Adult Literacy Education contracted programs ($10 million).
• Funding Restorative Justice programming designed to reduce the reliance on suspensions or punitive discipline across city schools ($6 million).
• Continuing the cross-agency Mental Health Continuum partnership to provide mental health support to all students ($5 million).
• Supporting digital learning resources for students and teachers ($5 million).
• Expanding arts education in schools ($4 million).
• Supporting tutoring for kindergarten through second grade literacy and sixth through eighth grade math education at select schools across the city ($4 million).
• Funding for immigrant family engagement to address potential communication gaps between schools and support parents who do not speak English fluently ($4 million).
• Continuing support for incorporation of LGBTQ+ inclusive topics, history, and wellness into student curricula ($2.8 million).
• Funding fee waivers for community organizations using New York City Public Schools' space ($2 million).
• Providing resources for parent and family engagement to support New York City Public Schools' " Family and Community Engagement " initiative, which focuses on parent empowerment and engagement ($1 million).

Supporting Cherished Libraries and Cultural Institutions

Cultural institutions and libraries are a critical part of New York City's social fabric, which New Yorkers depend on for children's growth and the vibrancy of the city. The FY25 Adopted Budget ensures critical institutions will have what they need to serve New Yorkers and attract visitors every day of the week. After making multiple investments in New York City's cultural sector by allocating more than $22 million to the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs for the city's Cultural Institutions Group and Cultural Development Fund, the FY25 Adopted budget goes even further to:

• Restore the FY25 November Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) and add funding for the Cultural Institutions Group and Cultural Development Fund recipients ($53 million).
• Restore operations support funding for New York City's libraries citywide ($58.3 million).

New $2 Billion in Capital Funding to Bring Affordable Housing Capital Commitment to Over $26 Billion in the Current Ten-Year Plan (FY24-FY33)

Mayor Adams has taken significant action to combat the city's housing and affordability crisis. Under his leadership, the city financed a record number of new affordable homes in 2023 and is ahead of schedule on a 2024 State of the City commitment to advance two dozen 100-percent affordable housing projects on city-owned land this year through the " 24 in '24 " initiative. Earlier this year, Mayor Adams and working-class New Yorkers kicked off the public review on "City of Yes for Housing Opportunity," the most pro-housing proposal in New York City's history. The Adopted Budget brings the housing capital commitment to a record $26 billion by:

• Investing an additional $2 billion in capital funds across FY25 and FY26 to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and New York City Housing Authority's (NYCHA) capital budgets to support the Adams administration's "moonshot" goal of 500,000 new homes over the next decade and the administration's commitment to transforming NYCHA.

Making the City More Affordable by Putting More Money Back in the Pockets of Working-Class New Yorkers

Under Mayor Adams's leadership, New York City continues to reach new all-time high total jobs records and Black unemployment is at its lowest level in half a decade. The administration has successfully negotiated contracts with unions representing 96 percent of the city's workforce and 100 percent of the city's uniformed workforce – the quickest any mayoral administration has reached that milestone in modern city history. Building on generational investments, such as wiping out of $2 billion in medical debt and advancing the implementation of the MyCity portal to make it easier for New Yorkers to apply for subsidized child care, the FY25 Adopted Budget includes commitments to make the city more affordable and support working-class New Yorkers' economic mobility by:

• Supporting over 700 food pantries across the city to maintain current funding levels ($31.9 million).
• Adding funding for ‘ Fair Fares NYC' and increasing the eligibility rate from 120 percent to 145 percent of the Federal Poverty Level to build on the resounding success of the program and make public transportation more affordable for even more New Yorkers ($20.7 million).
• Providing operational support to help The City University of New York (CUNY) adjust to declining enrollment ($15 million).
• Funding food and services for Older Adult Centers and Home Delivered Meals ($11.1 million).
• Supporting the Shelter to Housing Action Plan that provides staffing to connect eligible New Yorkers with legal services and help New Yorkers find and maintain stable housing ($10.1 million).
• Investing in CUNY Accelerate, Complete, Engage Program that helps students overcome barriers to graduation through academic advisement, career development, tuition scholarships, textbooks, and transportation assistance ($9.1 million).
• Continuing support for the Jobs NYC employment sprint monthly hiring halls in communities experiencing high unemployment ($2.5 million).
• Supporting legal services for New Yorkers facing wage theft and unemployment insurance hearings ($1.9 million).
• Funding housing navigators who assist runaway and homeless youth with safe and permanent housing placements ($1.6 million).
• Providing small businesses support with grant and loan applications, marketing assistance, business strategy, accounting and legal services, and digital tools ($1.5 million).
• Supporting the Brooklyn Recovery Corps at CUNY Medgar Evers College, which provides 200 students a year with internship opportunities that contribute to the ongoing economic recovery of Brooklyn and the city ($1 million).
• Funding CUNY STEM, a year-long enrichment program in Inwood to prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields ($1 million).

Keeping New Yorkers Safe and Improving Quality of Life

The Adams administration previously announced funding for three new police classes to add 1,800 additional recruits in April , July, and October classes, putting New York City on a path to have 35,000 uniformed officers in the coming years. Continuing to build on the double-digit decrease in shootings and homicides in 2023 and 2024, and the decrease in overall crime in 2025, year to date, the FY25 Adopted Budget includes upstream solutions to protect public safety and make the city more livable by:

• Funding for New York City Department of Parks and Recreation's Brownsville Recreation Center demolition and construction ($160 million).
• Continuing current levels of litter basket pick-ups citywide ($25 million).
• Adding staff to complete a second cleaning shift at hotspot park locations during peak days and hours ($15 million).
• Continuing part-time security at 55 NYCHA buildings for senior residents ($6.8 million).
• Helping manage and adjudicate growth in administrative legal cases related to the crackdown on illicit cannabis sales ($4.2 million).
• Continuing support for 50 Urban Park Rangers ($4.1 million).
• Ongoing support for GreenThumb gardens with new soil, new raised beds, and other resources utilized by gardeners ($2.6 million).
• Providing additional resources for tree stump removal ($2 million).
• Funding for Civilian Complaint Review Board's staffing ($2.1 million).
• Funding of 32 civilian positions to staff the new 116th Precinct in Southeast Queens , which is scheduled to open in October 2024 ($1.2 million).

Keeping New Yorkers Healthy

Mayor Adams is committed to improving the physical, emotional, and mental health of all New Yorkers. That's why the administration launched " HealthyNYC ," an ambitious plan to extend the lifespan of all New Yorkers with ambitious targets to address the greatest drivers of premature death, including chronic and diet-related diseases, screenable cancers, overdose, suicide, maternal mortality, violence, and COVID-19. The Adams administration also previously released " Care, Community, Action: A Mental Health Plan for New York City ," a sweeping mental health agenda with $20 million in commitments to invest in the mental health of children and families. The FY25 Adopted Budget further invests in programs to help keep New Yorkers healthy by:

• Restoring the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene contracts for HIV related programs ($5.4 million).
• Expanding the Office of Health Care Accountability to bring rising health care costs down and ensure hospitals and health care providers are not gouging New Yorkers ($2 million).
• Continuing programming for Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, including direct services, mental health support, youth programs, and other culturally-competent services ($5 million).
• Raising meal reimbursement rates to help the city's contracted nonprofit home-delivered meal providers with the rising costs of food and labor ($4.8 million).
• Supporting existing Trauma Recovery Centers, which provide case management, therapy, and crisis intervention services to underserved victims of violent crime ($4.8 million).
• Replacing expiring stimulus dollars that currently support the Mayor's Office of Food Policy staffing and food research projects ($800,000).

Keeping New York City on the Path of Strong Fiscal Management

The FY25 budget is balanced with a combination of savings and increased revenues. Outyear gaps are $5.5 billion, $5.6 billion, and $6.5 billion in Fiscal Years 2026 through 2028, respectively. Growth of $805 million in FY25 over the Executive Budget is driven by revenue and grant funding.

Projected tax revenues were adjusted upward over the Executive Budget by $198 million in FY24 and $454 million in FY25, reflecting better than anticipated business and property taxes. However, the city must remain cautious as tax revenue growth is expected to remain modest in outyears and national economic growth has recently slowed. This reinforces the need to remain thoughtful about spending, fiscally prudent, and not rely solely upon revenue growth to solve immediate financial challenges.

The Adopted Budget achieves savings of $380 million over FY24 and FY25, driven by $275 million in debt service savings. Total savings over the two years in this budget cycle is $7.9 billion, prior to restorations, driven by 5 percent PEG savings plans in both the November and Preliminary Budgets, and includes asylum seeker PEGs in the Preliminary and Executive Budgets that brought migrant-related costs down by nearly 30 percent.

The FY25 Adopted Budget maintains a near-record $8.2 billion in reserves, which includes $1.2 billion in the General Reserve, $1.96 billion in the Rainy Day Fund, $4.8 billion in the Retiree Health Benefits Trust, and $250 million in the Capital Stabilization Reserve.

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“They’re coming in and they don’t know how to play.”

“I had some kids who went on to kindergarten who still did not know a triangle.”

“I can’t tell you the number of families who say their kids are anxious or depressed — and they’re little ones, 4 or 5.”

The Youngest Pandemic Children Are Now in School, and Struggling

Teachers this year saw the effects of the pandemic’s stress and isolation on young students: Some can barely speak, sit still or even hold a pencil.

By Claire Cain Miller and Sarah Mervosh

The pandemic’s babies, toddlers and preschoolers are now school-age, and the impact on them is becoming increasingly clear: Many are showing signs of being academically and developmentally behind.

Interviews with more than two dozen teachers, pediatricians and early childhood experts depicted a generation less likely to have age-appropriate skills — to be able to hold a pencil, communicate their needs, identify shapes and letters, manage their emotions or solve problems with peers.

A variety of scientific evidence has also found that the pandemic seems to have affected some young children’s early development . Boys were more affected than girls, studies have found .

“I definitely think children born then have had developmental challenges compared to prior years,” said Dr. Jaime Peterson, a pediatrician at Oregon Health and Science University, whose research is on kindergarten readiness. “We asked them to wear masks, not see adults, not play with kids. We really severed those interactions, and you don’t get that time back for kids.”

The pandemic’s effect on older children — who were sent home during school closures, and lost significant ground in math and reading — has been well documented. But the impact on the youngest children is in some ways surprising: They were not in formal school when the pandemic began, and at an age when children spend a lot of time at home anyway.

The early years, though, are most critical for brain development. Researchers said several aspects of the pandemic affected young children — parental stress, less exposure to people, lower preschool attendance, more time on screens and less time playing.

Yet because their brains are developing so rapidly, they are also well positioned to catch up, experts said.

The youngest children represent “a pandemic tsunami” headed for the American education system, said Joel Ryan, who works with a network of Head Start and state preschool centers in Washington State, where he has seen an increase in speech delays and behavioral problems.

Not every young child is showing delays. Children at schools that are mostly Black or Hispanic or where most families have lower incomes are the most behind, according to data released Monday by Curriculum Associates , whose tests are given in thousands of U.S. schools. Students from higher-income families are more on pace with historical trends.

But “most, if not all, young students were impacted academically to some degree,” said Kristen Huff, vice president for assessment and research at Curriculum Associates.

Recovery is possible, experts said, though young children have not been a main focus of $122 billion in federal aid distributed to school districts to help students recover.

“We 100 percent have the tools to help kids and families recover,” said Catherine Monk, a clinical psychologist and professor at Columbia, and a chair of a research project on mothers and babies in the pandemic. “But do we know how to distribute, in a fair way, access to the services they need?”

What’s different now?

“I spent a long time just teaching kids to sit still on the carpet for one book. That’s something I didn’t need to do before.”

“We are talking 4- and 5-year-olds who are throwing chairs, biting, hitting, without the self-regulation.”

Brook Allen, in Martin, Tenn., has taught kindergarten for 11 years. This year, for the first time, she said, several students could barely speak, several were not toilet trained, and several did not have the fine motor skills to hold a pencil.

Children don’t engage in imaginative play or seek out other children the way they used to, said Michaela Frederick, a pre-K teacher for students with learning delays in Sharon, Tenn. She’s had to replace small building materials in her classroom with big soft blocks because students’ fine motor skills weren’t developed enough to manipulate them.

Michaela Frederick, a pre-K teacher in Sharon, Tenn., playing a stacking game with a student.

Aaron Hardin for The New York Times

Preschoolers do not have the same fine motor skills as they did prepandemic, Ms. Frederick said.

Perhaps the biggest difference Lissa O’Rourke has noticed among her preschoolers in St. Augustine, Fla., has been their inability to regulate their emotions: “It was knocking over chairs, it was throwing things, it was hitting their peers, hitting their teachers.”

Data from schools underscores what early childhood professionals have noticed.

Children who just finished second grade, who were as young as 3 or 4 when the pandemic began, remain behind children the same age prepandemic, particularly in math, according to the new Curriculum Associates data. Of particular concern, the students who are the furthest behind are making the least progress catching up.

The youngest students’ performance is “in stark contrast” to older elementary school children, who have caught up much more, the researchers said. The new analysis examined testing data from about four million children, with cohorts before and after the pandemic.

Data from Cincinnati Public Schools is another example: Just 28 percent of kindergarten students began this school year prepared, down from 36 percent before the pandemic, according to research from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

How did this happen?

“They don’t have the muscle strength because everything they are doing at home is screen time. They are just swiping.”

“I have more kids in kindergarten who have never been in school.”

One explanation for young children’s struggles, childhood development experts say, is parental stress during the pandemic .

A baby who is exposed to more stress will show more activation on brain imaging scans in “the parts of that baby’s brain that focus on fear and focus on aggression,” said Rahil D. Briggs, a child psychologist with Zero to Three, a nonprofit that focuses on early childhood. That leaves less energy for parts of the brain focused on language, exploration and learning, she said.

During lockdowns, children also spent less time overhearing adult interactions that exposed them to new language, like at the grocery store or the library. And they spent less time playing with other children.

Kelsey Schnur, 32, of Sharpsville, Pa., pulled her daughter, Finley, from child care during the pandemic. Finley, then a toddler, colored, did puzzles and read books at home.

But when she finally enrolled in preschool, she struggled to adjust, her mother said. She was diagnosed with separation anxiety and selective mutism.

“It was very eye-opening to see,” said Ms. Schnur, who works in early childhood education. “They can have all of the education experiences and knowledge, but that socialization is so key.”

Preschool attendance can significantly boost kindergarten preparedness, research has found . But in many states, preschool attendance is still below prepandemic levels. Survey data suggests low-income families have not returned at the same rate as higher-income families.

“I have never had such a small class,” said Analilia Sanchez, who had nine children in her preschool class in El Paso this year. She typically has at least 16. “I think they got used to having them at home — that fear of being around the other kids, the germs.”

Time on screens also spiked during the pandemic — as parents juggled work and children cooped up at home — and screen time stayed up after lockdowns ended. Many teachers and early childhood experts believe this affected children’s attention spans and fine motor skills. Long periods of screen time have been associated with developmental delays .

Heidi Tringali, an occupational therapist in Charlotte, N.C., playing with a patient.

Travis Dove for The New York Times

Children are showing effects of spending time on screens, Ms. Tringali said, including shorter attention spans, less core strength and delayed social skills.

Heidi Tringali, a pediatric occupational therapist in Charlotte, N.C., said she and her colleagues are seeing many more families contact them with children who don’t fit into typical diagnoses.

She is seeing “visual problems, core strength, social skills, attention — all the deficits,” she said. “We really see the difference in them not being out playing.”

Can children catch up?

“I’m actually happy with the majority of their growth.”

“They just crave consistency that they didn’t get.”

It’s too early to know whether young children will experience long-term effects from the pandemic, but researchers say there are reasons to be optimistic.

“It is absolutely possible to catch up, if we catch things early,” said Dr. Dani Dumitriu, a pediatrician and neuroscientist at Columbia and chair of the study on pandemic newborns. “There is nothing deterministic about a brain at six months.”

There may also have been benefits to being young in the pandemic, she and others said, like increased resiliency and more time with family .

Some places have invested in programs to support young children, like a Tennessee district that is doubling the number of teaching assistants in kindergarten classrooms next school year and adding a preschool class for students needing extra support.

Oregon used some federal pandemic aid money to start a program to help prepare children and parents for kindergarten the summer before.

For many students, simply being in school is the first step.

Sarrah Hovis, a preschool teacher in Roseville, Mich., has seen plenty of the pandemic’s impact in her classroom. Some children can’t open a bag of chips, because they lack finger strength. More of her students are missing many days of school, a national problem since the pandemic .

But she has also seen great progress. By the end of this year, some of her students were counting to 100, and even adding and subtracting.

“If the kids come to school,” she said, “they do learn.”

​Why School Absences Have ‘Exploded’ Almost Everywhere

The pandemic changed families’ lives and the culture of education: “Our relationship with school became optional.”

By Sarah Mervosh and Francesca Paris

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Subscriber only, new york politics | nyc budget deal partially restores early childhood spending, but advocates say gaps will persist.

The early childhood programs had been facing $170 million in cuts that Adams attributed to the fact that thousands of seats have gone empty in some neighborhoods, while waitlists have grown elsewhere in the city . The issue reached a head earlier this year when thousands of New York City parents were shut out of 3-K.

“We were paying for a huge number of seats without children in the seats,” Adams said Friday afternoon at a City Hall press conference to announce the deal as part of a larger $112.4 billion city government budget . “It was a brilliant idea: 3-K, pre-K. It was a great idea. It was poorly executed, and we were hemorrhaging millions of dollars of taxpayers’ dollars.”

The handshake deal also included additional dollars for programs serving young children from immigrant backgrounds or with disabilities and $25 million to extend the days and hours of operation at more early childhood education programs — a Council priority meant to align with families’ schedules and help fill the empty seats. A total of 4,800 seats next year will be part of a pilot that offers child care through the workday and summer.

A biweekly “working group” of Council staff will meet with representatives from the Education Department and Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget to resolve issues related to early childhood education.

The Council’s buy-in, first reported by the Daily News before Friday’s announcement, marked a major reversal for the lawmaking body, which just a couple of months ago called for the full $170-million restoration to provide universal access to preschool seats.

“When you negotiate and you collaborate on certain things, there were just a lot of things that come to light that may not have necessarily been seen last April,” said Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Queens). “So the more we learned, the more we realized what we were actually going toward and working toward, and that is to stabilize the system.”

“We’re sort of going to hit reset on that whole system,” said Councilman Justin Brannan (D-Brooklyn), chair of the Council’s Finance Committee, “and do pre-K, 3-K 2.0 and do it right. Just throwing money at the problem wasn’t going to fix it.”

Despite the investments, the budget hole angered 3-K advocates and the families of young children, who have called for full restorations. An analysis of early childhood program demand, led by external consultants at Accenture, could provide more data on the city’s true need for child care. But it’s yet to be made publicly available.

“The mayor promised every family a 3-K seat, and parents planned accordingly ,” said Rebecca Bailin, executive director of New Yorkers United for Child Care. “Instead, families across the city received rejection letters due to the mayor’s budget cuts — and this will continue until every dollar is restored.”

Comptroller Brad Lander, who is reportedly mulling a primary challenge to Mayor Adams, said the deal “fails to fully fund universal 3-K and pre-K nor allot enough seats for every preschool child with disabilities who needs one.

“At a time when working parents must contend with the rising cost of housing and living, every parent should feel secure that their three and four-year-olds will be able to jumpstart their education,” he added.

In April, the city allocated $92 million of city funding to backfill most of the expiring federal pandemic aid for one more year of 3-K, plus $5 million to boost outreach. But the investment did not undo Adams’ two rounds of cuts this year, known as Programs to Eliminate the Gap, which he said were necessary to offset the cost of sheltering migrants.

The city has made major investments to keep up programs that were funded with temporary dollars. Throughout the country, pandemic aid has dried up, leading to significant programmatic cutbacks and employee lay-offs — a fate that the city mostly avoided this budget cycle.

“Summer Rising was sunsetting,” Mayor Adams said, referring to the city’s free summer camp program for public school students. “3-K, pre-K and so many other initiatives that were put in place with the full understanding they were sunsetting, and we had to find the dollars to keep them going.”

The handshake deal includes more funding for young children with additional needs.

The budget earmarks $25 million to restore and expand child care for undocumented families, plus $30 million for special education preschool programs that were also facing a pandemic aid shortfall. Earlier this spring, the Education Department acknowledged 700 young kids with disabilities were waiting for an appropriate placement.

“We’ve been hearing from family after family whose young child with autism or other challenging disabilities missed out on the chance to go to preschool this year,” said Randi Levine of Advocates for Children. “This investment will help hundreds of children who have been waiting.”

Councilwoman Shahana Hanif (D-Brooklyn), co-chair of the Progressive Caucus, touted the new investments.

“However, it is disappointing that the Mayor has chosen to deplete our education system by abandoning the promise of universal 3-K,” she said in a statement.

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New York Politics | NYC Council passes $112.4 billion budget in down-to-the-wire vote

New York Politics | Mayor Adams, NYC Council announce deal on $112.4B budget after months of sharp debate

NYC $112.4B budget includes $$$ for housing, early childhood education, libraries, health care

• Updated: Jun. 28, 2024, 5:28 p.m. |
• Published: Jun. 28, 2024, 5:08 p.m.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Council Finance Chair Justin Brannan, members of the City Council, and senior members of the Adams administration today announce an agreement for an on-time, balanced, and fiscally-responsible $112.4 billion Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 that invests in the future of New York City, at City Hall on Friday, June 28, 2024. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

• Tracey Porpora | [email protected]

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Mayor Eric Adams reached a “handshake” deal with Council Speaker Adrienne Adams on a $112.4 billion budget adopted for Fiscal Year 2025 that includes reversing several of the mayor’s proposed cuts , like library hours, and invests billions in housing, early childhood education and healthcare.

The budget is being touted as a “reinvestment in protecting public safety, rebuilding the city’s economy and making the city more livable for working-class people.”

The budget includes investing in initiatives and programs that are designed to make New York City more affordable. As part of the budget agreement, the Adams administration and the City Council pledged to invest hundreds of millions of dollars of city resources in areas, such as early childhood education, cultural organizations, libraries, parks and public safety.

“We know New Yorkers, like all Americans, are struggling with an affordability crisis, so today, we are delivering a budget that invests in the future of our city and the working-class people who make New York City the greatest city in the world,” said Mayor Adams. “Our city faced unprecedented challenges — a $7.1 billion budget gap that needed to be closed, a $4.9 billion humanitarian crisis, and hundreds of millions of dollars used to fund long-term programs with short-term stimulus dollars.”

Those challenges included expiring stimulus dollars that had been used to fund long-term programs, the rapidly expanding costs of housing and caring for more than 205,000 asylum seekers since the spring of 2022 — more than 65,000 of whom are still in the city’s care, said Adams’s office in a written statement.

“Despite all this, the actions taken by our city have helped us arrive at a strong, on-time, and fiscally-responsible budget, which has allowed us to partner with the City Council to invest in the programs and services New Yorkers want and deserve, and, most importantly, that address the three things that cost them the most: housing, childcare, and health care,” said Mayor Adams.

Here are the highlights of the budget:

Launching the Early Childhood Strategic Plan with $100 million investment, which includes plans to:

• Reduce waitlists for Special Education Pre-K seats by creating new, city-run seats for children when providers do not have room ($30 million).
• Maximize take-up of extended day seats available to eligible families by expanding the investment made in the last Adopted Budget ($25 million).
• Support undocumented children and their families who are not eligible for federally subsidized extended day and yearly child care due to their immigration status through expanding the Promise NYC program ($25 million).
• Identify seats for more than 1,700 families who did not receive offers in the 2024-2025 school year for the Pre-K and 3-K application round ($20 million).
• Provide sustainable funding for the Mayor’s Office of Child Care and Early Education , which was previously funded with philanthropic dollars to continue its work supporting the city’s early childhood sector ($485,000).

Investing in an equitable education for all students, which includes:

• Restoring Summer Rising extended day and Friday programming for middle school participants ($19.6 million).
• Supporting community school programming ($14 million).
• Providing free MetroCards to this summer’s Summer Youth Employment Program participants ($11 million).
• Investing in teacher recruitment efforts that are critical to meeting state mandated class-size legislation standards ($10 million).
• Continuing the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development Adult Literacy Education contracted programs ($10 million).
• Funding Restorative Justice programming designed to reduce the reliance on suspensions or punitive discipline across city schools ($6 million).
• Continuing the cross-agency Mental Health Continuum partnership to provide mental health support to all students ($5 million).
• Supporting digital learning resources for students and teachers ($5 million).
• Expanding arts education in schools ($4 million).
• Supporting tutoring for kindergarten through second grade literacy and sixth through eighth grade math education at select schools across the city ($4 million).
• Funding for immigrant family engagement to address potential communication gaps between schools and support parents who do not speak English fluently ($4 million).
• Continuing support for incorporation of LGBTQ+ inclusive topics, history, and wellness into student curricula ($2.8 million).
• Funding fee waivers for community organizations using New York City Public Schools’ space ($2 million).
• Providing resources for parent and family engagement to support New York City Public Schools’ “ Family and Community Engagement ” initiative, which focuses on parent empowerment and engagement ($1 million).

Supporting Libraries and Cultural Institutions, including plans to:

• Restore the FY25 November program to eliminate the gap (PEG) and add funding for the cultural institutions group and cultural development fund recipients ($53 million).
• Restore operations support funding for New York City’s libraries citywide ($58.3 million).

New $2 Billion in capital funding to bring affordable housing. This includes:

• Investing an additional $2 billion in capital funds across FY25 and FY26 to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) capital budgets to support the Adams administration’s “moonshot” goal of 500,000 new homes over the next decade, and the administration’s commitment to transforming NYCHA.

Making the city more affordable, by:

• Supporting over 700 food pantries across the city to maintain current funding levels ($31.9 million).
• Adding funding for ‘ Fair Fares NYC’ and increasing the eligibility rate from 120 percent to 145 percent of the Federal Poverty Level to build on the resounding success of the program and make public transportation more affordable for even more New Yorkers ($20.7 million).
• Providing operational support to help the City University of New York (CUNY) adjust to declining enrollment ($15 million).
• Funding food and services for older adult centers and home delivered meals ($11.1 million).
• Supporting the Shelter to Housing Action Plan that provides staffing to connect eligible New Yorkers with legal services and help New Yorkers find and maintain stable housing ($10.1 million).
• Investing in CUNY Accelerate, Complete, Engage Program that helps students overcome barriers to graduation through academic advisement, career development, tuition scholarships, textbooks, and transportation assistance ($9.1 million).
• Continuing support for the Jobs NYC employment sprint monthly hiring halls in communities experiencing high unemployment ($2.5 million).
• Supporting legal services for New Yorkers facing wage theft and unemployment insurance hearings ($1.9 million).
• Funding housing navigators who assist runaway and homeless youth with safe and permanent housing placements ($1.6 million).
• Providing small businesses support with grant and loan applications, marketing assistance, business strategy, accounting and legal services, and digital tools ($1.5 million).
• Supporting the Brooklyn Recovery Corps at CUNY Medgar Evers College, which provides 200 students a year with internship opportunities that contribute to the ongoing economic recovery of Brooklyn and the city ($1 million).
• Funding CUNY STEM, a year-long enrichment program in Inwood to prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields ($1 million).

Keeping New Yorkers safe and improving quality of life:

• Funding for New York City Department of Parks and Recreation’s Brownsville Recreation Center demolition and construction ($160 million).
• Continuing current levels of litter basket pick-ups citywide ($25 million).
• Adding staff to complete a second cleaning shift at hotspot park locations during peak days and hours ($15 million).
• Continuing part-time security at 55 NYCHA buildings for senior residents ($6.8 million).
• Helping manage and adjudicate growth in administrative legal cases related to the crackdown on illicit cannabis sales ($4.2 million).
• Continuing support for 50 Urban Park Rangers ($4.1 million).
• Ongoing support for GreenThumb gardens with new soil, new raised beds, and other resources utilized by gardeners ($2.6 million).
• Providing additional resources for tree stump removal ($2 million).
• Funding for Civilian Complaint Review Board’s staffing ($2.1 million).
• Funding of 32 civilian positions to staff the new 116th Precinct in Southeast Queens , which is scheduled to open in October 2024 ($1.2 million).

Keeping New Yorkers healthy, by:

• Restoring the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene contracts for HIV related programs ($5.4 million).
• Expanding the Office of Health Care Accountability to bring rising health care costs down and ensure hospitals and health care providers are not gouging New Yorkers ($2 million).
• Continuing programming for Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, including direct services, mental health support, youth programs, and other culturally-competent services ($5 million).
• Raising meal reimbursement rates to help the city’s contracted nonprofit home-delivered meal providers with the rising costs of food and labor ($4.8 million).
• Supporting existing trauma recovery centers, which provide case management, therapy, and crisis intervention services to underserved victims of violent crime ($4.8 million).
• Replacing expiring stimulus dollars that currently support the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy staffing and food research projects ($800,000).

“The Council is proud to reach an agreement with Mayor Adams to restore and secure funding for essential services that are critical for New Yorkers’ health, safety, and well-being,” said Speaker Adams.

“These investments in affordable housing and homeownership, early childhood education and CUNY, libraries and cultural institutions, parks and sanitation, senior services and youth programs, mental health, and public safety programs support our residents in every community. Despite the challenges, the Council has never wavered from our commitment to investing in solutions, and we will continue to push the city to meet the scale of our challenges. I thank my colleagues in the Council for our collective work to secure the resources our communities deserve and deliver on the priorities of New Yorkers,” she added.

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