Upper East Side parents are fuming after the city suddenly halted plans for a preschool in the posh neighborhood — and Department of Education officials refuse to explain why they pulled the plug, The Post has learned.
The massive 30,000-square-foot early childhood education center at 403 E. 65th St. was set to open by fall 2024 in order to meet local pols’ and parents’ demand for more classroom seats, the DOE announced with fanfare in 2022.
The site – a former parking garage leased by the city from private landlord Friedland Properties – appeared to be fully built, with DOE signage, the lights on and a security guard present, but still hadn’t opened to students.
Pressed by The Post, the DOE bizarrely walked back its years-old announcement, claiming Friday that “no final decisions have been made on how this building location will be utilized.”
“It’s like a slap in the face every time we walk by,” fumed one Upper East Side mom, Jennifer, who recently moved to the same block as the site with dreams of enrolling her young son – who has been on a waitlist for the city’s Manhattan Schoolhouse 3-K program “since he was an infant.”
The planned site was slated to house up to 10 classrooms for three- and four-year-olds, and help neighborhood parents who for years have pleaded for more spots in the city’s free pre-K and 3-K programs.
Enrollment for 3-K in Manhattan’s District 2, which contains the Upper East Side, skyrocketed more than 121% — from just 245 students in the 2022-23 school year to 543 in 2024-25 — while preschool enrollment roughly plateaued during the same time period, according to planning documents obtained by The Post.
“We have a lot of families who move to the neighborhood expecting public school and public program benefits,” Manhattan Community Board 8 chairperson Valerie Mason said.
“Universal means universal.”
Without the new center opening, Jennifer, who asked not to be identified using her full name, said she would have to continue paying for private 3-K at her son’s current day care.
But private day care options can cost tens of thousands of dollars a year, putting a “real strain” on young families’ budgets, said a longtime CB8 member familiar with the matter.
“This is the difference between us being able to buy an apartment on the Upper East Side versus rent,” the source said. “I feel like families give up … and then they either move or [attend] a private school.”
The source also speculated that the Upper East Side site might have been “deprioritized” because it is a wealthier district, but didn’t know for sure as the DOE has not provided an explanation.
“We wouldn’t be far along on the priority list because of demographics — like economic demographics,” the source said.
Seats in the Big Apple’s public early childhood education are distributed based on “community needs” according to the DOE, and are not fixed from year to year.
“We will continue to monitor community needs closely, particularly given aggressive outreach by the new Administration to help families apply and enroll, and share that information should any future updates become available,” a DOE rep said.
New Mayor Zohran Mamdani has positioned himself as a champion of universal child care, recently partnering with Gov. Kathy Hochul to expand 3-K access and bring free child care for 2-year-olds in New York City.
City Hall referred The Post’s inquiries back to the education department.
The agency did not respond to questions about what function the rented building was currently serving, or why it didn’t advance to enrolling students in the city’s free preschool program.
“There are various reasons why a site may not advance to implementation,” the DOE spokesperson said when asked why the location hadn’t advanced to the stage of receiving students.
“Our focus remains on supporting the various needs of families by continuing to support the existing early childhood education programs while assessing changes to supply and demand across all neighborhoods.”
The K-5 residential population declined by 7% in District 2 between 2019-20 and 2024-25, according to an internal planning report obtained by The Post. Citywide, the K-12 residential population declined by 8% since 2019-20.
But data show that schools in the district have been reaching capacity for pre-K and 3-K programs more than in previous years. In 2022-23, it was 69% for the district; in 2023-24, it was 72.1%, according to a report from the city’s Independent Budget Office.
“There is a definitely need for it,” Mason, the community board leader, said, “so we’re continuing to patiently wait.”
Mason said she asked the DOE about the site change after learning about it from The Post — and still had yet to hear back from the agency.
“If this site is off the table, I’d like to know what the alternatives are,” Mason said.
Newly-minted City Council Speaker Julie Menin, a longtime Upper East Side rep, blamed the administration of Mamdani’s predecessor, Mayor Eric Adams, for not opening the site as planned in fall 2024 — and stressed there was still a need for it.
“Families in our district were promised a robust, reliable early childhood facility, and it is unacceptable that the Adams administration failed to prioritize opening this facility before their term expired,” she told The Post.
“The demand for Pre-K and 3-K remains steady in the district, yet families continue to face long commutes or costly private care instead of the programs they were promised,” Menin said.
“Every community deserves accessible, high-quality early childhood education backed by clear timelines, accountability, and real follow-through. We need more facilities — and the facilities we do have must do what they can to open.”
