Mayor Zohran Mamdani launches first digital child care map for NYC parents

Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News on Apr 1, 2026

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NEW YORK — New York City parents can more easily find a child care program using a new searchable map unveiled by Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday.

The platform allows parents to filter programs by location, children’s age and cost, and features information on about 10,000 child care providers, including program settings and schedules, walking and transit directions, contact information and inspection records.

The platform also offers a short questionnaire for families to learn more about affordable programs they may qualify for, and directs parents to live support by phone or email.

“Too often, parents in this city have been forced to rely on information they can only find from one set of friends or another, this Facebook group or that,” Mamdani said during a live demonstration at the New York Hall of Science in Corona, Queens. “They have been made to feel as if they have to jump through a certain number of hoops in order to know where their options even are.”

“What today starts to do is it makes it easier for parents to know where they can find those options.”

The city’s child care system is notoriously difficult to navigate.

Until now, parents could search for center-based care through the city’s Health Department, home-based care through the state’s children and family services office, and free preschool through the city’s Education Department.

But there was a need for a map showing all program types in a single search.

In the absence of such a tool, the United Federation of Teachers previously rolled out a similar navigator for its membership, then to the public, though it was not clear how many non-UFT members use the platform.

“You also have the confidence of knowing that this is a regularly updated, comprehensive set of information, because for the first time in history, it’s run by the city,” Mamdani said at the news conference.

The tool comes as, keeping with a campaign promise, Mamdani is launching a free child care program for about 2,000 2-year-olds in select neighborhoods this fall, with a promise to expand the initiative citywide by the end of his first term. He’s also expanding a free preschool program for 3-year-olds in dozens of zip codes where families have languished on waitlists.

Mamdani also expanded a former Mayor Eric Adams-era child care pilot for city workers and launched a citywide survey of parents with young kids to help shape future policy.

The website is available in multiple languages and can be used on mobile devices.

The map is available at nyc.gov/childcare.

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