Mamdani rolls out $2.3M day care pilot for NYC workers with hefty $60K cost per kid

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the opening of a new day care center for municipal workers Monday that will cost more than double the average price of child care — to a tune of nearly $60,000 per kid.

The pilot program will start this fall inside the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building in Lower Manhattan after a $10 million renovation of part of the first floor is complete, with room for just 40 children, ages six weeks to 3 years old.

The childcare center co-ops an initiative of Mamdani’s predecessor, Mayor Eric Adams, that was announced in October.

Mamdani said the Adams administration didn’t allocate operating funds for the center, which Hizzoner said would have a $2.3 million price tag and will be included in the city’s upcoming executive budget.

That works out to $57,500 per child to attend the day care from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Average annual private day care costs in the city for infants come in at $26,000 and $23,400 for toddlers.

City Hall didn’t respond to questions about the soaring cost to the city compared to private center-based programs.

The municipal freebie comes as Mamdani claims the city has a $5.4 billion budget deficit and that he needs Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature to hike taxes on the rich and corporations to bail the city out.