Adams Administration cuts $300 million from 3K, PromiseNYC, and essential early childhood education programs in preliminary budget
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander stood with parents, advocates, and child care providers to call out the Adams Administration for cutting $300 million needed to maintain current levels of child care and early childhood education in his preliminary budget, even as soaring child care costs crush New York City’s working families. Last week, Comptroller Lander published an economic spotlight highlighting how unaffordable child care has become for middle- and working-class families – and how children, working parents, and the city’s economy would thrive with universal child care.
“For many working families, it costs more to pay for child care than to send a kid to college – and yet Mayor Adams is closing child care centers that offer free, high-quality care in low-income neighborhoods, eliminating 3-K slots, and breaking promises to working class parents,” said Comptroller Brad Lander. “Just last week, he said his goal was to make New York City the best place to raise a family in America – but it seems like his trips to Mar-a-Lago and the inauguration must have shifted his priorities.”
In his Preliminary Budget for Fiscal Year 2026, Mayor Adams failed to include more than $300 million needed to maintain the City’s early childhood education programs at the levels parents have come to rely on, including more than $250 million for the 3K and UPK programs, $25 million for Promise NYC, and $55 million for special education early childhood programs.
A day after announcing the Mayor’s preliminary budget, the Adams Administration informed five child care centers serving low-income families that their leases are being terminated and their programs would not be renewed for the upcoming school year (All My Children Daycare and Nursery School in South Jamaica, Queens; Grand Street Settlement’s Bushwick Child and Family Center in Brooklyn; Fort Greene Council; Friends of Crown Heights; and Nuestros Niños in Williamsburg).
Today’s event was held at Grand Street Settlement, one of the child care providers informed by the Adams Administration that one of their sites would be closed next year.
“It’s vital to ensure parents have access to affordable, quality child care without losing essential providers.” said Robert Cordero, Chief Executive Officer of Grand Street Settlement. “Child care is unaffordable for families and providers in New York City. We need a universal child care solution that invests in fair wages for educators, offers tax credits for families, and supports providers with streamlined regulations and long-term capital investments in child care centers.”
Last week in a new economic spotlight, the Comptroller’s Office found that the average cost of child care for toddlers in center-based care was $23,400 in 2024 and a family would need to earn $334,000 to afford the cost of care for a two-year old in New York City, four times the median family income or 10 minimum wage jobs. Between 2020 and 2023, the population of children three and under in New York City declined by 19 percent, with the majority of families who out-migrated being middle-income. More families would choose to remain in New York City if provided with free, high-quality child care, boosting population growth, workforce participation and city revenues.
“We’re deeply concerned that Mayor Adams left continued funding for 3-K, preschool special education classes, and Promise NYC out of the preliminary budget. Making New York City the best place to raise a family means ensuring that all children have access to high-quality early learning programs and that, when parents are worried about their preschooler’s development, they can get the special education evaluations, classes, and services they need and have a legal right to receive. But right now, we continue to hear from families whose young children are waiting for a seat in a preschool special education class or for needed services in their 3-K or pre-K class,” said Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York.
“Mayor Adams misses no opportunity to show that he is out of touch with what families need in NYC. Families are struggling to find child care, struggling to afford it and struggling to keep making ends meet. Instead of investing in child care, this mayor is cutting, closing programs and pretending that there is no demand. Families have been asking for universal child care, free care and learning for all children. We need real solutions on the city and state level, not cuts and crumbs,” said Smitha Milich, Senior Campaign Strategist of Alliance for Quality Education.
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