Thursday, October 29, 2026, 1 p.m. (New York City time), 250 Broadway - 8th Floor - Hearing Room 1
Committee: Committee on Small Business
The Committee on Small Business, jointly with the Subcommittee on Early Childhood Education (co-chaired by Council Member Gutiérrez), held an oversight hearing on "the business of child care." The administration—represented by the Mayor's Office of Child Care and Early Childhood Education, the Department of Small Business Services, and NYCHA—testified on supports for child care providers as small businesses, including a permitting portal, a $40 million rate increase, a $3 million emergency micro-grant fund, 2-K expansion, and a planned shared-services cooperative for home-based providers. Council members questioned officials on the voucher waitlist, delayed contract payments and registration, liability insurance costs, network fees, private equity's growing presence, and pay parity for early childhood educators. The committee also heard Introduction 445 from Council Member Stevens, which would expand the Business Pathways program (currently run by NYCHA) beyond food and child care; testimony on the program was given by NYCHA staff. Public testimony focused heavily on payment delays and reversed voucher reimbursements, the financial struggles of small providers, Montessori qualification and mixed-age classroom rules, and the announced closure of Christ the King daycare and preschool in Middle Village, Queens.
0:23 The dais. Oh, good, good. Good
0:23 afternoon. Welcome to the New
0:30 York City Council hearing for
0:32 the committee on small
0:33 business jointly with the
0:34 subcommittee on early
0:37 childhood education. At this
0:38 time we're gonna ask everyone
0:39 in the room to silence all
0:40 cell phones and electronic
0:42 devices. Uh, if you wish t
0:42 otestify you need to fill out
0:44 an a parent's card. If you
0:45 haven't done so yet up
0:48 policing the sergeant at arms
0:49 in the back of a rome and
0:49 we'll get you signed up, most
0:51 importantly at this time no
0:53 01:00 is allowed to approach
0:54 today is sure you begin
0:59 . Good afternoon, everyone. I
1:00 am Council Member chanel
1:02 Thomas Henry, chair of the
1:04 committee on small business
1:05 .thank you for joining us for
1:08 today's joint hearing between
1:09 the committee on small
1:11 business and subcommittee on
1:13 early childhood education, so
1:14 examining the business of
1:18 child care. I'd like to begin
1:18 by thanking my co chair
1:20 Council Member Jennifer
1:22 Gutiérrez. I'd like to also
1:23 thank the representatives from
1:25 the administration, members of
1:26 the public and my council
1:29 colleagues who have joined us
1:31 here today, including council
1:32 santa swell. So Joseph Felder
1:36 and Brewer and on zoo. We have
1:41 councilmember Maloney
1:42 . The last couple of years
1:43 we've seen conversation grow
1:45 significantly around child
1:45 care in New York City this
1:48 year, the Mayor, the governor
1:50 and the council have focused
1:52 their efforts to examine the
1:55 landscape of childcare and
1:56 approve it's affordability and
1:58 accessibility for New York
2:02 City families part of this
2:03 examination is considering who
2:04 would provide child care and
2:06 that I whys today's hearing is
2:10 so important New York City
2:11 small businesses are
2:13 significant providers of child
2:14 care and that they have the
2:17 resources and guidance to
2:19 conduct their business is
2:20 crucial to meeting the
2:21 affordability needs of New
2:22 York City families, according
2:26 to a 2024 report from the u. S
2:29 small business administration,
2:31 nearly all firms in the
2:32 childcare industry are small
2:34 businesses, but most of the
2:35 child care firms that have
2:37 exited the market have been
2:41 small businesses, the growing
2:42 cost of the industry has been
2:44 an overwhelming burden for
2:46 small businesses and this
2:49 20024 report further noted
2:49 that the price of child grew
2:52 by 230% from 19 92 20 22 small
3:00 businesses have the unique
3:01 ability to be deeply connected
3:05 to their communities
3:05 . Many serve as unofficial
3:07 community centers
3:08 , or were started by someone
3:09 who was born and raised in the
3:13 neighborhood businesse cans
3:14 begin because of deep need t
3:15 ogive back to the community or
3:18 share a passion, but starting
3:20 a small child care business
3:21 takes a unique amount of work.
3:24 There are many complex
3:25 requirements that a child care
3:27 must meet.
3:27 In addition to merit rules
3:30 and regulations that all small
3:32 businesses must follow in New
3:35 York City.
3:35 The costs and the complexity
3:36 of starting and sustaining a
3:38 child business can that
3:40 understated and we must find
3:42 ways to appropriately
3:44 streamlined the business of
3:45 child care if we truly want t
3:47 omake
3:48 . Trout care affordable
3:51 . The committee is also
3:52 hearing introduction 4 4 5
3:54 from council Stevens, which
3:55 requires the department of
3:57 small business services to
3:59 expand the business pathways
4:00 program to include creative
4:02 fields, retail and cosmetology
4:06 . The programs would assist
4:06 nitra residents in formalizing
4:08 their businesses, including
4:10 via professional business
4:12 education course, mentorship
4:13 and professional coaching
4:16 support in obtaining business
4:18 licenses guidance on business
4:20 operations, marketing and
4:22 financial structures funding
4:24 to complete required health
4:25 and safety trainings, support
4:28 and completing provider
4:29 applications and help for
4:30 certain businesses to secure a
4:34 commercial space, the business
4:35 pathways program currently in
4:36 power was entrepreneurs who
4:38 reside in nitra housing to
4:40 start and grow businesses in
4:42 food and child care, the
4:43 latter of which we plan t
4:44 ofocus on for this hearing.
4:48 Public information about
4:48 this program is limited,
4:49 including who is presently
4:51 responsible for running the
4:52 program and we.
4:52 Look forward to hearing fro
4:54 mthe administration about this
4:55 program and their thoughts on
4:57 Council Member Stevens. Bill
5:00 ,I would like to thank tyler
5:01 walls and rebecca beryllium
5:02 from such a staffer there for
5:04 their putting this hearing
5:05 together as well as my own
5:08 staff, derek slaughter
5:09 ,franklin richards in sierra
5:11 smith and everyone working in
5:13 the background to help mak
5:14 ethis hearing possible. I'd
5:19 emarine moreno murano.
5:25 Okay, he's here somewhere
5:30 . All right, we'll find
5:33 council murano shortly in the
5:34 meantime, I will turn it over
5:36 to my co chair Council Member
5:39 remarks.
5:39 Thank you. Chair. Afternoon.
5:41 Everyone on Council Member
5:42 chair of the subcommittee on
5:44 early childhood education and
5:45 we're so excited to join the
5:47 committee on small business
5:49 and and their chair council
5:50 members Thomas Henry for
5:51 today's oversight hearing on
5:53 the business of child care
5:54 over the last several months
5:55 as chair of the south. I have
5:57 had privilege of hearing
5:59 directly from from families
6:00 about how reliable, affordable
6:02 child care plays an integral
6:02 role in their lives get the
6:06 people who run childcare
6:06 programs are caught in an
6:08 impossible squeeze childcare
6:09 providers are asked to deliver
6:11 high quality, safe and
6:13 nurturing environment on razor
6:16 thin margins. They are
6:16 competing in a market where
6:17 the service is expensive for
6:18 families to buy and the wages
6:19 they can afford to pay their
6:21 staff remain far too low a
6:23 sformer treasury secretary
6:24 janet yellen described the
6:25 child industry is the textbook
6:27 example of a broken market,
6:30 the majority of child care
6:31 businesses are small business
6:32 and our own and operated
6:34 largely by women and often
6:35 women of color. Most are
6:36 working hard and following the
6:37 rules to keep their child
6:39 business open, but this can
6:41 often feel impossible.
6:42 National data shows that most
6:45 for for profit child
6:45 facilities operate on a profit
6:46 margin of less than 1%, wel
6:49 lbelow the recommended healthy
6:50 margin of 15% seen across most
6:54 industries, this means of an
6:54 unexpected cost pops up like a
6:56 broken fridge or plumbin
6:57 gbackups or water heater
6:59 failures. It can often it can
7:01 often be a devastating it can
7:02 be devastating to the
7:03 financial stability, stability
7:04 of that child care programs
7:07 this year, Mayor rahm donny
7:08 and governor hogan made a big
7:08 investment in expanding the
7:09 child care system, but
7:10 improving child care access
7:12 for families it's not just
7:13 about making child care more
7:14 affordable. The underlying
7:16 infrastructure needs
7:16 investment to this means
7:18 increasing contracted rates
7:19 for a child care and setting
7:21 reimbursement rates for child
7:22 care vouchers of the true cost
7:24 of care without sufficient
7:26 public funding childcare
7:27 programs will continue t
7:30 ostruggle. So today we'll ask
7:30 the mayor's office of child
7:31 care and early childhood
7:32 education and the department
7:33 of small business services.
7:35 How you how are you supporting
7:36 childcare businesses as small
7:38 businesses and how are you
7:39 ensuring the financial
7:40 viability of child car
7:41 eprograms. Thank you to the
7:42 members of the subcommittee on
7:43 early childhood who joined us
7:45 today. I also want to thank
7:47 the staff, julia goes pinkham
7:48 katie selena great tomato and
7:49 julian lawless and margaret
7:52 barnsley as well as my own
7:53 staff. Franco lca angela
7:55 angelica colon and madeline
7:56 mcgill abre for their work on
7:57 today's hearing. Oh, insulate
7:59 my legislative fellow. Thank
8:00 you. Chair, turn it back over
8:04 to you,
8:04 thank you, councilmember
8:05 Gutiérrez. I will now turn it
8:07 over to the committee counsel,
8:09 two minister administer the
8:10 oath before we hear from the
8:15 marrow administration. Thank
8:16 you. Chair, can all admin
8:17 staff admin representatives
8:18 come up to the table,
8:33 including nitra. Thank you
8:34 , do you affirm to tell the
8:36 truth, the whole truth and
8:36 nothing but the truth before
8:38 this committee and to respond
8:39 honestly to Council Member
8:40 .questions? Yes, yes, thank you
8:45 . You maybe give one ready
8:49 ?okay.
8:50 It. Good afternoon, sheriff
8:51 chair Thomas Henry, members of
8:53 the subcommittee on early
8:54 childhood education, members
8:55 of the committee on small
8:56 business and all other City
9:00 council members. My name is
9:00 emily list and I'm the
9:01 executive director of the
9:01 mayor's office of child care
9:03 and early childhood education.
9:05 I'm joined today by my
9:05 colleagues at the department
9:06 of small business services and
9:07 New York City housing
9:09 authority. Thank you for
9:10 organizing this hearing and
9:11 giving us the opportunity to
9:12 testify about the business of
9:15 child care. I would also like
9:16 to acknowledge and recognize
9:17 the early childhood educators
9:18 and providers who have joined
9:18 us for this hearing today as
9:20 well as the advocacy groups
9:22 and organizations who support
9:23 this critical workforce. We're
9:24 grateful for the work you do
9:25 every day in our cities early
9:27 childhood programs and
9:28 appreciate you being here to
9:29 share your stories and
9:32 experiences.
9:32 Universal child care is a
9:33 critical pillar for the mom,
9:34 donny administration and a key
9:35 component in making New York
9:36 City more affordable for
9:38 everyone to raise a family
9:40 this administration has been
9:41 working diligently toward a
9:42 City where every child under
9:45 five and has access to fre
9:46 ehigh quality early care and
9:47 education offered in a range
9:49 of culturally competent
9:50 settings with caregivers and
9:51 educators who are trained,
9:52 respected and fairly
9:56 compensated on just day eight
9:57 of this administration, the
9:57 Mayor so that the governor as
9:58 she committed over $1.
10:00 2Billion in New York City to
10:01 put us more firmly on the path
10:02 to universal child care here
10:06 in New York City. We are lucky
10:07 to have a rich ecosystem of
10:08 early childhood education
10:09 providers.
10:10 Many of the city's community
10:11 based child providers have
10:12 been in operation for decades
10:14 or more than a century in some
10:15 cases and they have educated
10:17 and cared for thousands and
10:17 thousands of children. We
10:20 appreciate that today's
10:21 hearing recognizes childcare
10:22 providers as the small
10:23 businesses that they are
10:26 . According to state licensing
10:27 data. There are more than
10:28 10000 unique licensed child
10:29 care programs in New York City
10:31 over 2200 licensed daycare
10:33 centers more than 150
10:34 0licensed school aged child
10:36 care centers close to 5600
10:38 group family day cares and
10:40 around 740 family day cares
10:43 . Childcare businesses in New
10:44 York City are typically very
10:45 small small family childcare
10:46 care programs not have any
10:47 staff other than the owner and
10:49 larger family child care
10:50 programs have just one or two
10:51 additional staff members
10:55 ,according to data from the u
10:55 .s census more than half of
10:56 child care programs operating
10:57 in New York City employ fewer
10:59 than five people, just 3% of
11:02 child businesses employ more
11:04 than 50.
11:05 As small businesses. New
11:05 York city's childcare leaders
11:06 .a majority of whom are women
11:08 of color often wear many hats,
11:12 and New York city's
11:13 regulatory landscape for child
11:14 providers while important for
11:15 health and safety can make
11:16 life very challenging for our
11:18 child care business owners
11:20 close to half of all child
11:21 care workers have their own
11:21 children at home in total over
11:24 5000 child care workers have a
11:25 child under the age of five at
11:26 home, meaning they are likely
11:27 making use early hair
11:31 education themselves.
11:32 The mayor's office of child
11:33 care and early childhood
11:34 education, sees its mandate
11:35 simply to make it easier for
11:37 families to find access and a
11:38 care and to make it easier for
11:40 child providers to open
11:42 ,operate and sustain their
11:46 businesses. We do this by
11:46 setting the administration's
11:47 strategy to deliver on
11:48 universal child care,
11:49 coordinating and aligning
11:51 policy and programmatic
11:51 activity across agencies
11:53 involved early care and
11:55 education work, engaging
11:56 deeply with the community t
11:57 oensure parent and child care
11:58 provider voices are
11:59 represented in policy and
12:01 partnering with business,
12:02 philanthropy and the nonprofit
12:04 sector to accelerate
12:04 innovation and impact over the
12:08 past 10 months. We have spent
12:09 time listening to child care
12:11 providers to try to better
12:12 understand what they need and
12:13 how the City can better
12:14 support their work, which is
12:16 essential to delivering our
12:17 vision of universal child car
12:20 consolidates applicationchi
12:26 requirements simplifies
12:26 communication with the health
12:27 department and provides real
12:29 time updates on application
12:31 status, removing barriers tha
12:32 thave long made it difficult
12:33 for providers to open their
12:34 doors and we're pleased t
12:36 odemo that permitting portal
12:37 for the council earlier this
12:40 year in Mayor mamdani issued a
12:42 proclamation declaring
12:43 childcare provider
12:44 appreciation month and
12:44 coordinate a series of visits
12:46 to child care providers across
12:47 the City intended to bring
12:48 more visibility to the work
12:49 that our providers do every
12:53 day.
12:53 Additionally, my office is
12:54 partnered with providers
12:55 organized for power or pop to
12:57 lead a listening tour with
12:58 home based child care programs