Free child care for 2-year-olds is coming to every school district in the Bronx and to all of Staten Island in fall 2027. The city announced on Oct. 19 which neighborhoods will get the next 10,000 seats in its 2-K program, which launched this fall in five districts, and the two boroughs are the only ones covered in full.

With the expansion, more than 12,000 children across the five boroughs will have access to 2-K starting in fall 2027. The program is free, and it runs as a full-day, full-year program by default, the city says.

Where 2-K is going

2-K started this fall in five districts: District 6 in Manhattan, District 10 in the Bronx, Districts 18 and 23 in Brooklyn and District 27 in Queens. More than 5,700 families applied for those first 2,000 seats, according to the city.

The fall 2027 expansion adds 17 more of the city's 32 geographic school districts, for a total of 22, and adds seats in the five original districts too. Along with the entire Bronx and Staten Island, the new districts are:

  • Manhattan: District 4 (East Harlem and Randall's Island) and District 5 (Central Harlem, East Harlem, Manhattanville and West Harlem, Morningside Heights, Hamilton Heights and Sugar Hill).
  • Brooklyn: District 16 (Bedford-Stuyvesant, including Stuyvesant Heights), District 17 (Crown Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Prospect Heights, Flatbush, East Flatbush and nearby blocks), District 19 (East New York, Cypress Hills, Spring Creek, Starrett City and nearby), District 20 (Bay Ridge, Fort Hamilton, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach and parts of Bensonhurst, Borough Park and Sunset Park), District 21 (Coney Island, Sea Gate, Brighton Beach, Gravesend, Midwood and nearby) and District 32 (Bushwick and parts of East Williamsburg).
  • Queens: District 24 (Corona, Elmhurst, Maspeth, Middle Village, Ridgewood, Glendale, Sunnyside, Woodside and parts of Jackson Heights, Forest Hills and Long Island City), District 28 (Rego Park, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Briarwood, Jamaica, Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park, Rochdale Village, Springfield Gardens and nearby) and District 29 (Queens Village, Cambria Heights, Hollis, St. Albans, Laurelton, Rosedale and nearby).

The city's announcement names the neighborhoods in each district; families on a district border should check the full list on the city's page.

How it is paid for

The program is backed by a $1.2 billion state investment, according to the city and the governor's office. It is offered through center-based child care programs and through family child care programs.

What it means in the Bronx and on Staten Island

The Bronx had one district, District 10, in the first year. Under the expansion every Bronx district is covered, and so is all of Staten Island. The city's announcement singled out Co-op City in the Bronx and Staten Island's South Shore as places the program will now reach.

What families should do now

Families cannot apply yet. The city says the fall 2027 timeline for families to apply will be announced in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the city's child care hub at nyc.gov/childcare lists the city's child care options for children under 5.

Child care providers have their own next step. Within a week of the announcement, the city said it would release a survey for providers that already contract with NYC Public Schools and a Request for Information for new providers interested in offering 2-K.

Watch nyc.gov/childcare for the dates to apply for 2-K; seats in the Bronx and on Staten Island start in fall 2027.

Sources