NYC Transforms Long-Vacant Brooklyn Building Into 3-K Center

NEW YORK, NY — New York City will add 2,000 new 3-K seats across all five boroughs, doubling an earlier expansion plan as families continue searching for affordable child care close to home.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the expansion Monday alongside a new waitlist process designed to place families at newly opened sites based on preference, sibling priority and proximity.

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The administration also announced the opening of a previously vacant child care center at 129 Van Brunt St. in Brooklyn’s Columbia Waterfront neighborhood, adding 63 new early childhood education seats, including 45 3-K seats.

The City said most of the new seats will open through partnerships with community-based child care providers.

Roughly 700 seats added after the application update deadline closed April 24 will be filled through a citywide waitlist process.

All families who applied for 3-K will receive an offer May 19, according to the administration. Families can continue adding themselves to waitlists for programs with openings.

The Van Brunt Street center marks the ninth previously vacant child care site reopened under the Mamdani administration.

City officials said the building had remained unused despite years of requests from local families and community advocates seeking more child care capacity in the neighborhood.

Council Member Shahana Hanif said parents and caregivers pushed city officials to activate the publicly funded facility.

“This fully built, publicly funded facility should never have sat empty while families searched for childcare seats close to home,” Hanif said. “Parents organized, spoke out and pushed for the resources their community needed.”

Earlier this year, City officials announced plans for more than 1,000 new 3-K seats across 56 ZIP codes.

The administration also said New York City will launch its first 2,000 free 2-K seats this fall. Applications open June 2.