New York City has shelled out nearly $100 million in taxpayer dollars to rent more than two dozen buildings that were meant to house preschools — but have yet to open half a decade later, The Post has learned. The city is still footing the rent and utility bills for the 28 facilities — a $99.3 million-and-counting boondoggle blamed on the “terrible execution” of former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s ambitious universal preschool expansion. “I don’t think it’s corruption. It’s incompetence,” a former city Department of Education official told The Post.
The de Blasio-era scramble to construct 47 “initiative projects” for the then-mayor’s “3-K For All” pet program — giving free full-day care for 3-year-olds — resulted in the slew of “phantom” preschools that remain devoid of students nearly five years after he left office. The ex-DOE official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the rush job was done without considering whether the chosen buildings were even in neighborhoods with a demand for the free seats.
