Brooklyn site among 7 child care centers opening as city expands 3‑K access
The centers and programs are being funded in part by the $1.2 billion that Gov. Kathy Hochul committed earlier this year to expand universal childcare.
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New York City plans to open roughly 1,000 additional 3-K seats this fall, aiming to ease years of waitlists and unmet demand in several neighborhoods.
The expansion includes seven long‑vacant early childhood sites, including a renovated Atlantic Avenue building in Boerum Hill that has sat empty since 2023 despite more than $10 million in city spending.
The center is expected to serve more than 60 children in 3‑K and pre‑K programs once it opens this fall.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the new seats are intended to help families who have struggled to find childcare close to home.
“Parents are walking past shuttered centers that could have served them,” he said, calling the delays a source of “pain and frustration.”
For many parents, the expansion comes after years of difficulty securing seats.
Miral Sattar, a mother of three, said her youngest child was recently waitlisted for kindergarten, just as her two older children once were for pre‑K.
She said the family was once offered a seat in Chinatown, far from their home.
“It’s not possible to take a child 45 minutes away for preschool,” said Sattar.
In some districts, demand continues to exceed available seats. Brooklyn Councilmember Lincoln Restler said District 15 received more than 1,600 applications for 3‑K last year but had only 1,500 seats.
“Empty sites like this one were sitting vacant,” he said.
The new openings are being funded through more than $1 billion that Gov. Kathy Hochul committed earlier this year to expand childcare citywide.
City officials say they will focus on neighborhoods with the highest demand and will conduct outreach to ensure eligible families know about the new seats. When asked whether families living in nearby NYCHA developments would receive priority, the mayor did not specify whether placement would be first‑come, first‑served or based on need.
"We're announcing not just this district, but also Districts 11, 15, 22, 24, 25. We're speaking about districts across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens," the mayor said, "We're going to be reaching out to families that are eligible for this application so that they know. Because as you may be aware of the fact, many families have already applied for these seats, and we're letting them know that there's a way for them to also add this into consideration. And we're also going to be letting know those residents at NYCHA houses in the same district."
