Some lucky city workers will get a chance to send their kids to daycare at their workplace starting this fall.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Department of Citywide Administrative Services Commissioner Yume Kitasei on Monday said municipal employees can apply to a free, on-site child care pilot program in April.
The pilot daycare program will serve 40 children ages 6 weeks to 3 years at a ground-floor center in the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building on Centre Street. The city is currently spending $10 million to renovate and construct a 4,000-sqaure-foot child care center that will open this fall on weekdays from 8:00am to 6:00pm.
“Change begins at home," Mamdani said in a statement. "As we deliver universal child care to New Yorkers, that work must include the public servants who keep this city running. No parent should have to spend hours commuting just to ensure their child is safe and cared for.”
Applications will open on April 30. To be eligible, city employees must:
- Be a full-time DCAS employee regardless of work location or a full-time city employee who is assigned to 1 Centre Street.
- Be a parent or legal guardian of a child between the ages of 6 weeks (as of Sept. 1, 2026) and 3 years old (as of Dec. 31, 2026).
Families may submit one application per child. Full eligibility details will be available on the DCAS website when applications open. Selected participants will be notified in June. Families not selected will be placed on a waitlist and contacted if space becomes available, officials said.
“At DCAS, we are focused on transforming our workplace for the future, namely, how can we make life more affordable, ease burdens and foster a more supportive workplace for our staff,” said Kitasei. “We see this project as an answer to these questions — that by meeting workers where they are and providing on-site, free childcare, you will have city workers who are less stressed, healthier and better able to serve New Yorkers. We hope this will be transformative for the people that work here at 1 Centre Street, and we can’t wait to open this center in the fall.”
The program was first announced by former Mayor Eric Adams in October.
