NYC 3-K applications dip despite Mamdanis massive push, seat expansion

They can’t give it away for free.Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration failed to convince more families to apply to the city’s free pre-K and 3-K programs — and even reported a slight dip compared to last year — despite an aggressive months-long social media campaign and advertising blitz, new data shows.About 590 fewer students applied to the city’s free 3-K programs this year, marking a 1.4% dip compared to 2025, while pre-K applications only increased by a measly .3%, or 172 applications, according to a Post review of Department of Education data.Mamdani has made universal childcare a key platform of his mayoral campaign and administration, with Gov.

Kathy Hochul pitching in $73 million in state funding for his 2,000-seat 2-K pilot program, or about $36,500 per tot.  Meanwhile, Hizzoner launched an outreach campaign to boost the city’s existing free preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds, but the same percentage of eligible families applied this year compared to last, the data shows.Only half of all tots eligible for 3-K applied to the program in both 2025 and 2026 — even though demand has surged citywide for spots and overall seat capacity jumped to roughly 84%, from 81% between 2023-24, according to an Independent Budget Office analysis.Follow live updates on Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist agenda and the latest in NYC politicsSpeaking at a news conference Tuesday, the mayor blamed his predecessor Eric Adams for bequeathing him a broken universal childcare system with a “bare bones” outreach team.“Despite the incredible efforts of the City Council, we saw that there was sustained disinvestment in the outreach around universal childcare, especially as it pertained to 3-K and pre-K,” Mamdani said.“What we’ve also seen is decreased immigration into our city, increased fear and suspicion of enrolling and using city services, especially from immigrant communities,” he added, in attempting to explain his admin’s struggle to...