NYC Mayor Mamdani scrambles for a fix as delays, red tape threaten rollout of signature 2-K plan

Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News on Aug 31, 2026

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NEW YORK — New York City’s public school system will hire hundreds of new employees and expedite paperwork in a bid to fix delays in the childcare payment system after Mayor Zohran Mamdani faced criticism over lags in funding that threatened to derail his signature early childhood program for 2-year-olds.

Chancellor Kamar Samuels and Mamdani, who has made the launch of 2-K a top priority of his first year in office, said in a joint news release Monday the $43 million overhaul will better support childcare providers and ensure they can open on the first day of school next week.

“The delays that we are discussing are unacceptable. And ever since these were identified, we’ve been working around the clock to both ensure that they are fixed for the upcoming school year and also that they are fixed in general,” Mamdani added at an unrelated press conference later Monday outside City Hall.

“Some of these (delays) are also reflective of an issue that is plaguing city government, not for months but for years,” the mayor said. “What we are talking about is rebuilding the capacity that has been severely decreased over the last few years of staff who are charged with both setting up and maintaining our early childcare system.”

The local childcare system largely consists of operators that contract with the city to provide public programs like 3-K and Pre-K. For several years, the network has been plagued by contracting and invoicing delays, resulting in the city failing to pay many providers on time.

In some cases, the cash-flow crunch got so intense that long-standing operators were forced to permanently close their doors.

Last week, City & State reported payments were late again this year in 3-K and Pre-K, and The New York Times later reported the same setbacks were also straining the new 2-K pilot program, renewing scrutiny of the delays. Some operators said they were forced to take out personal loans, ask family for financial help, and empty out their savings accounts.

In the press release, Mamdani and Samuels outlined a series of steps to prepare for the first day of school on Sept. 10 and prevent future payment delays.

Among them was a pledge to restore headcount in the school system’s early childhood division, starting with 200 new hires. The office suffered from a major exodus of hundreds of employees under former Mayor Eric Adams as he backed away from plans to expand the system.

Spokespeople for the mayor and chancellor did not immediately say when the staffers will start their new jobs, or how many hires they need to make to reach pre-Adams staffing levels.

The Monday announcement did not cover a key departure from the division under Mamdani: Simone Hawkins, the deputy chancellor of early childhood education, who is stepping down next month. Hawkins was not quoted in the announcement, which added the incoming deputy chancellor will be tasked with “building on this work” to prevent future payment delays. The Daily News has reached out to the city to ask if a replacement for Hawkins, a well-liked education official who’s been praised for stabilizing the system after years of volatility, has been selected yet.

In the short term, Mamdani said he was reassigning staff across the city agencies to the school system to settle outstanding contracts and move them along for registration. By the city’s own estimates, the emergency measure has roughly tripled the number of staff working on childcare contracts and sped up the review process by “several weeks,” according to the news release.

Mamdani and Samuels also said they’re also covering the costs of some initial school supplies, like toys and diapers, and expediting interest-free bridge loans, though providers have reported challenges with applying for them.

“We have reached out to every single early childcare provider,” the mayor said at the press conference, “sending emails as well as making over 800 calls to ensure that every organization hears from us directly.”

Mamdani said officials have counseled over 50 providers, and all complete applications for loans submitted by Monday will be processed by the end of the week: “They have all been connected with loans as well as with additional supports,” he added.

Mamdani’s signature 2-K program is scheduled to launch this fall with 2,000 students in select school districts, with the goal of expanding citywide over four years. The first batch of more than 550 programs based in homes and centers across Districts 6, 10, 18, 23 and 27 were announced in late May.

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