Mayoral candidate Zellnor Myrie wants to make afterschool free for all New York City families.
On Thursday, the state senator from Brooklyn said he would guarantee a spot in a local afterschool program to all students in 3-K through 12th grade. Programs would run through 6 p.m. at a nearby public school or through a contracted provider. A new deputy mayor position would be created to coordinate efforts.
“We want afterschool — not for some, not for places where you can afford it — afterschool for all. High-quality afterschool for every single family, every single grade that needs it,” Myrie said at a press conference in Lower Manhattan.
It was not immediately clear how Myrie would pay for a dramatic expansion of the city’s child care and work programming. He estimated the plan’s first year — which would include extended-day preschool and start on some of the other initiatives — would cost $420 million.
The mayoral hopeful suggested universal afterschool was an economic development policy that would increase tax revenue as more parents could stay in their jobs. He also floated lobbying Albany or Washington, or finding savings in the city’s current budget.
Myrie touted the academic benefits of afterschool and the child care relief and economic opportunities universal programming would offer thousands of additional families. A parent with one child typically spends $12,000 on afterschool each year, or 26% of their salary, according to Myrie’s 25-page plan.
Myrie estimated it would take another 110,000 seats to make current K-12 afterschool programming universal. He also wanted to extend the hours of preschool to 6 p.m., add 50,000 seats to the Summer Youth Employment Program, and make Summer Rising — a public program combining camp and academics — available to any family who applies.
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