New York City families will see expanded access to after-school programs this fall, as Mayor Eric Adams announced the launch of 40 new sites serving 5,000 elementary students. This marks the first step toward his administration’s ambitious goal of universal after-school access.
Funded by a $21 million investment in the FY26 Adopted Budget, the new sites will be housed at 37 public schools and three public charter schools, prioritizing communities with high economic need and existing service gaps.
“Every parent knows that learning doesn’t just take place in the classroom,” said Mayor Adams in a press release. “Universal after-school will make life easier for a total of 169,000 students and their parents this fall who will no longer have to choose between work and taking care of their kids — or worse yet, using an iPad as a babysitter…Every day, we are working to make New York City the best place to raise a family, and it is exactly by delivering promises like universal after-school that will help us get there.”
The initiative is part of a broader $331 million plan to add 20,000 new K–5 after-school seats over the next three school years, bringing the total number of students served to 184,000 annually by 2027. The city’s investment will grow to $755 million annually and be baselined going forward.
Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) Commissioner Keith Howard called the expansion “the first major expansion of New York’s after-school system in a decade.”
He added, “For me, after-school programming is personal. My mother made sure my siblings and I attended after-school programs growing up in the Bronx, and I carried on that family tradition by sending my own children.”
The city will also launch a new request for proposals, the first in over 10 years, to enhance program quality, raise provider rates, and strengthen the nonprofit workforce delivering after-school services.
Deputy Mayor Ana Almanzar added, “Welcoming thousands of students into new after-school seats next school year will help support their intellectual growth and give parents the confidence to focus on their careers, while knowing their children are safe and academically engaged.”
Community leaders and nonprofit partners praised the investment. “For too long, neighborhoods like ours have gone without equitable access to enriching, safe after-school opportunities,” said Assemblymember Emerita Torres of the South Bronx. “This initiative is a powerful step toward changing that reality and uplifting the next generation of the South Bronx and across New York City.”
Rachel Gazdick, CEO of New York Edge, said expanding access “means more students will benefit from safe, enriching environments that foster academic achievement, support social-emotional development, and help them thrive well beyond the classroom.”
The Adams administration has prioritized family-focused policies, including expanded 3-K, a universal child care pilot for children under the age of 2, and reduced child care costs. Mayor Adams said this is just one more way they’re delivering on their promise to support working families.
News shared via NYC Newswire