Mayor Adams Announces Next Step of Ambitious Universal After-School with 10,000 Additional Seats for Next School Year

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) Commissioner Keith Howard today announced the next step in delivering Mayor Adams’ vision of “After-School for All,” with 10,000 additional seats to be added by the fall of 2026.  The 75 New York City Public Schools locations and 11 community centers selected to fill these 10,000 seats in high-need areas have been selected based on economic need and service gaps in those communities. In September, the city took a significant step toward universal after-school programming by launching the first 40 new after-school sites ― the largest expansion of city-funded after-school in more than a decade. The initial $21-million investment for 5,000 K-5 seats in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Adopted Budget, which builds on Mayor Adams’ FY 2026 Executive Budget — often called the “Best Budget Ever” — marked the first step for After-School for All. In the 2027-2028 school year, another 5,000 seats will be added, bringing after-school programming to a total of 184,000 students. The ambitious $331-million After-School for All commitment made by the Adams administration will bring the total investment for after-school programming to $755 million annually by the fall of 2027; that funding will be baselined starting in FY 2028.

“Today, we’re delivering on our promise to make New York City the best place to raise a family by starting with our children,” said Mayor Adams. “By opening 40 new after-school sites and adding 5,000 seats this school year — the largest expansion in over a decade — we’re giving young people the opportunities they deserve and telling hard-working parents: we see you and we’re investing in your future. But we aren’t resting on our laurels. We’re also giving providers their first pay raise in 10 years, creating 10,000 more seats for 2026, and strengthening programs at 75 additional schools. This is the first big step toward our vision of ‘After-School for All’ that will help us create a city where every child has a safe, enriching place to grow beyond the classroom.”

“Expanding after-school programming has been a top priority since the moment I stepped into my role as deputy mayor, and I'm incredibly proud of the work we have done to make this vision a reality,” said Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Ana J. Almanzar. “Building better after-school access means creating more seats and opening more opportunities. I am confident that every after-school program represents a child who is learning, thriving, and building confidence — and a parent who can work knowing their child is safe and supported. This next phase of ‘After-School for All’ brings us closer to a city where every family has what they need to succeed.”

“At more than 30 community town halls, New Yorkers sent us a message loud and clear: we need more after-school programming. With the most significant expansion of COMPASS after-school in more than a decade, this is a ‘promises made, promises kept’ moment. The first 5,000 of 20,000 new seats are already benefiting young people this school year, and DYCD has released two requests for proposals to enhance programs, increase provider rates, and bring on new providers to oversee this exciting growth,” said DYCD Commissioner Howard. “Mayor Adams has entrusted DYCD and our community partners to carry out a lasting legacy that will benefit young people and families from this day forward.”

Families can find the new 75 selected locations being announced today — as well as the original 40 sites from the current school year —on DYCD’s after-school sign up webpage. Families can locate their nearest after-school program through discoverDYCD, or reach out directly to providers for information on availability and how to apply.

Two Requests for Proposals (RFPs) released in October were the first in a decade to enhance and improve programs for New York City youth, as well as raise provider rates to stabilize the non-profit organizations leading these programs and better support the workforce that serves the city’s youth. Nonprofit providers interested in applying for the RFPs can visit DYCD’s Contracting Opportunities website for instructions and deadlines.

Recently, the Adams administration formed a commission for universal after-school by engaging providers and community stakeholders to develop a sustainable, long-term system that ensures non-profit organizations are able to continue to hire and train staff and deliver quality programming.

This investment adds to the Adams administration’s historic investments in young people, and supports both the Summer Youth Employment and Summer Rising programs to serve record numbers of youth, and increases spending on young adult career success programming by 25 percent, as announced in “Pathways to an Inclusive Economy: An Action Plan for Young Adult Career Success,” a forward-thinking roadmap to build inclusive pathways for the city's young people to discover their passion, receive hands-on career experience, and, ultimately, enter the workforce.

Over the last three years, the Adams administration has been focused on making New York City more affordable for families through popular and essential programs like early childhood education. Recently, Mayor Adams announced a child care pilot for 0 to 2 year olds that puts New York City on the path to universal child care for low-income families, if the pilot is successful, and a $167-million long-term investment and commitment to funding 3-K and special education pre-K programs annually. Under the Adams administration, a record 150,000 children are enrolled across the early childhood education system today, the out-of-pocket costs of child care subsidies have been reduced from $55 per week in 2022 to $5 per week today, and the administration met its commitment to offer a seat to every child who applied for 3-K on time — the first time this has ever been done in the city’s history.

Over the FY 2025 budget cycle, Mayor Adams protected more than $600 million in key, long-term education programs that had been previously funded with expiring stimulus dollars by making investments in Summer Rising, a citywide 3-K expansion, special education pre-K, community schools, social workers, and arts education. Additionally, the Adams administration invested $20 million to ensure that every student on a 3-K waitlist was offered a seat, and $55 million to provide more than 700 new seats for three- and four-year-olds with special needs.

Today’s announcement also builds off two years of core educational accomplishments under the Adams administration, including instituting nation-leading dyslexia screening for all students, adding 57 Gifted and Talented programs, helping 13,658 students complete work-based learning experiences for the 2024-2025 school year through FutureReadyNYC, cementing new labor contracts for teachers and other education officials, investing $167 million in new funding to secure critical early childhood education programs, and securing mayoral accountability twice in three years while investing $180 million to implement a comprehensive class size reduction plan.

Additionally, 186 schools across 14 districts implemented Mayor Adams' signature curricula, NYC Reads and NYC Solves, for the first time this year, bringing high-quality, evidence-based foundational reading and math curricula to middle school students across the five boroughs. These comprehensive programs also provide targeted resources, professional development, and curriculum enhancements for educators. As a result, the Adams administration and New York City Public Schools recently celebrated the release of new state test data revealing a substantial increase in reading and math scores for public school children in the city, between grades 3 through 8, in the 2024-2025 school year.

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