Mayor Promises Relief for Day Cares Ahead of School Year

In a news release Monday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and School Chancellor Kamar Samuels said in a news release that the city government would “bring every resource to bear” to produce the supplies and funds day care providers need in time for the school year’s start next week. This was after many early childhood centers told the New York Times that they were out of money and would have to close.

In the release, the city said the centers could receive interest-free bridge loans and boxes of art supplies, puzzles, toiletries and other items before school starts on Sept. 10. Some operators told the Times they had taken out high-interest personal loans or borrowed from family members. Several said they had struggled to get the city’s Department of Education to return emails and calls, even those participating in Mamdani’s signature push to provide free child-care for 2-year-olds.

“We are changing this system so that providers are never again asked to carry the cost of the city’s bureaucracy,” Mr. Mamdani said in a statement.

The budget released by the mayor’s office for the current fiscal year gives an additional $43 million for the Department of Education’s early childhood division, which would allow it to hire more than 200 employees and change the contracting process for day care providers to prevent future payment delays. The city also vowed to increase communication and transparency vis a vis the day cares.

“Our families shouldn’t have to worry about their child care provider being able to pay the bills, and our providers should be focused on getting their classrooms ready for learning — not wondering when a check will come,” Mr. Samuels said in a statement.

Day care center directors told the Times that communication picked up after the paper’s report; some reported their loan applications had finally advanced.

Shortly before Monday’s news releases, the Education Department sent an email to providers with information for requisitioning supplies. Boxes for three-year-olds and pre-K include colored pencils, construction paper, and paper towels.

Neighborhood day care centers are the backbone of early childhood care in the city, not the public school system. Said centers have long complained that the city neglects them and routinely sends their reimbursements weeks or months late. Day care budgets have not increased in five years, forcing them to keep wages stagnant.

The day cares can only apply for bridge loans because the city hasn’t approved the centers’ contracts and sent them to the Office of the Comptroller for registration. In recent years, day cares have received 30% of their annual budget in a lump sum at the beginning of the year.

Some providers were skeptical that help really would arrive on time. Others found the offered help insufficient. One provider told the New York times that her Queens day care had applied for an $80,000 loan, but the department initially offered only $29,000. After trying multiple officials, she was promised the balance.