As Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani figures out how to deliver on his promise of universal child care, his administration is grappling with what lessons to draw from the expansion of universal prekindergarten and 3-K.
In many ways, the rollout of universal pre-K under former Mayor Bill de Blasio offers a clear template for Mamdani — an ambitious and fast-moving effort that “showcased the ability of city government to actually meet the needs of New Yorkers,” as Mamdani said in June.
But many child care providers still feel resentful about how the program rolled out a decade ago, saying it unleashed disruptions to the system that persist to this day. Some of those providers are now urging Mamdani’s campaign to slow down and avoid some of those same pitfalls…