Two weeks into his preschool registration blitz, Mayor Mamdani said 50,000 New York City families had applied for 3-K and pre-K as of Friday, a number that was “currently in line” with the application pool at this time last year. Despite high demand for affordable child care, many free preschool programs, especially in the city’s lowest-income neighborhoods, have struggled for years to fill their seats. Mamdani, who campaigned on a dramatic expansion of free child care for ages 6 weeks and up, promised to do more outreach than former Mayor Eric Adams. Those efforts have yet to result in more applications than under his predecessor, though the mayor remained optimistic the count would continue to grow before the Feb. 27 deadline. “So far, we’re currently in line with where we were last year,” Mamdani told the Daily News at a home-based daycare in Chinatown. “We’re also going to be utilizing every tool at our disposal to get the word out or, as we say, ‘Get out the child care’ — ‘GOTC.'” “We’re here today to celebrate 50,000 applications across pre-K and 3-K. And we also know that there’s still far more New Yorkers who will apply much closer to the deadline.” Before the winter break, close to 9,600 of 3-K seats, or 18%, were vacant, thanks in part to a mismatch between where available programs are located and waitlists have proliferated, according to local school data. Mayor Mamdani visits a home-based childcare provider in Manhattan to encourage 3-K and pre-K application submissions on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (Michael Appleton / Mayoral Photography Office) To encourage more families to apply for the fall, Mamdani earlier this month pledged a “full-court press” by city government, including a new video to be displayed on TaxiTV monitors in yellow cabs, LinkNYC kiosks on the sidewalks and on social and other digital media. He also convinced Gov. Hochul to allocate $100 million to 3-K and funds to launch free child care for 2-year-olds by next school year. Mamdani visited the Chinatown daycare to learn more about home-based or “family” daycares, which are the most popular form of child care for low-income families with young children, but were largely left out of the city’s rollout of universal 3-K and pre-K. The mayor said home-based providers would play a key role in the upcoming expansion to 2-year-olds. For infants and toddlers, some parents prefer family daycares because of their cozy feel and their ability to choose a provider who speaks the same language they do at home. “Home-based providers are going to be a critical part of universal child care. They already are,” Mamdani said. “And when we’re talking about fixing the issues that we’ve seen with universal child care for 3-year-olds and also trying to deliver it for 2-year-olds, home-based providers are going to be a key part of both of those things.” Mayor Mamdani visits a home-based childcare provider in Manhattan to encourage 3-K and pre-K application submissions on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (Michael Appleton / Mayoral Photography Office) The Chinatown daycare serves kids who are 2 years old, funded by a combination of a contract through a child care network with the Department of Education, a federal Early Head Start grant and vouchers for low-income families. Inside the apartment, posters of the alphabet, numbers, shapes and colors covered the walls, translated into both English and Chinese. When the mayor visited, kids were about to wash their hands for lunch, one of three meals they would receive during the day. “Providers prepare all meals,” one of the providers said through a translator. “Parents love it, because it’s very hearty. It comes out of love in the kitchen.” ...read more read less