The Big Apple’s fiscal watchdog warned the Mamdani administration that it should start planning to merge woefully under-enrolled public schools — as an eye-opening map showed the depth of the city’s education crisis.
City Comptroller Mark Levine said Wednesday that enrollment across the five boroughs has plummeted as he shared a map using Department of Education data that showed 219 schools with fewer than 200 enrolled students.
“A decade ago, NYC had over a million students in the public schools,” Levin said in a statement on X. “This year we have 885,000. Projected to decline by another 150k over next decade.
A decade ago, NYC had over a million students in the public schools. This year we have 885,000. Projected to decline by another 150k over next decade.
That drop has left 219 schools with enrollment of less than 200 students each. Some are so small they can’t even field a sport… pic.twitter.com/HMtOy0P0sS
— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) September 16, 2026
“Some are so small they can’t even field a sport team,” Levine said. “This is not sustainable. As painful as it is, there is going to have to be some consolidation of schools with sharply declining enrollment.”
It’s just one of the challenges for Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels.
Enrollment has not only plummeted, but the students who are enrolled are not showing up.
The Post reported earlier Wednesday that 60% of students at PS 188 in Coney Island were chronically absent — meaning they missed at least 18 days, or 10% of classes, last year. About 60% failed last year’s standardized math and reading tests.
An average of 33% of students are chronically absent citywide.
PS 188 has about 230 students.
Samuels and the DOE said they are not ducking the problem.
“Every school, of every size, has unique traditions, cultures and a community specific to that school,” DOE spokesperson Nicole Brownstein said.
“As we engage with our schools and families in difficult conversations and decisions, preserving these elements that make up these strong school communities is essential, even if a building changes,” Brownstein said.
“This work is ongoing, and when done collaboratively, it can help deliver a school system where every child has access to a robust educational experience, rooted in academic rigor, true integration and safety.”
Samuels addressed the shrinking school system crisis during a recent orientation for thousands of new teachers.
“We have many schools that are too small,” Samuels said, according to Gothamist. “We have many schools that don’t have the resources that other programs have.”
There are 30,000 students at “small or under-enrolled” schools around the city, the chancellor said.
The DOE will focus on the smallest 25% of schools when considering closure or merger.
Because of budget constraints due to under-enrollment, small schools lack the resources to provide the breadth of courses and programs afforded to larger schools.
Prior to any merger or closure, the department vows to hold numerous meetings and solicit extensive input from parents in the impacted neighborhoods.
