New York City's Fiscal 2026 performance measures show a mixed picture: the city financed 26,913 affordable homes, while enrollment in free pre-K and 3-K fell below official targets. The fiscal year covered six months under former Mayor Eric Adams and six months under Mayor Zohran Mamdani, making the figures an incomplete measure of either administration's record.
Fiscal year 2026 included the first six months of Mamdani's administration and the final six months of Adams' term, according to the New York Post. The split is especially significant for programs that depend on planning, financing and enrollment decisions made over longer periods. Affordable housing and free child care have been central to Mamdani's agenda since he took office, the outlet reports.
Housing Financing Falls Short of the Prior Year
The city financed 26,913 affordable homes in fiscal year 2026, nearly 7% fewer than in the previous fiscal year, according to the New York Post. The figure is one annual measure within Mamdani's longer-term housing plans: in May, he announced a target to create 200,000 new affordable homes over the next decade and preserve 200,000 more, as reported by the Post.
Mamdani has also pledged to speed up the city's lottery process for leasing affordable units. In fiscal year 2026, however, the share of affordable-housing lottery projects that completed applicant approvals within six months fell from 41% to 26%, according to the New York Post.
What the Housing Total Measures
The city's affordable-housing starts measure is broader than completed new construction. According to the Fiscal 2026 Mayor's Management Report indicator definitions, it includes units created or preserved through financed new construction or rehabilitation, regulatory agreements that create or extend affordability, and homebuyer or homeownership assistance. It therefore does not represent only newly built homes, and it is distinct from a count of completed construction or preserved units alone. The annual figure also sits within a history of substantial fluctuation. City records show that affordable-housing starts fell from 29,826 units in Fiscal 2021 to 17,022 in Fiscal 2022 before rising to 24,689 in Fiscal 2023, 25,552 in Fiscal 2024 and 28,281 in Fiscal 2025, according to the city's Fiscal 2025 Mayor's Management Report. Separately, HPD says it has financed the construction of approximately 110,000 new affordable homes since July 1, 2016. These comparisons place Fiscal 2026 in a longer record but do not explain the year-to-year changes.
Putting the Numbers in Context
The fiscal 2026 housing total is part of a broader financing effort rather than a standalone measure of the city's affordable-housing system. According to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the agency has financed the construction of approximately 110,000 new affordable homes since July 1, 2016. The city's Fiscal 2025 Mayor's Management Report also said the median time to approve an applicant for a lottery unit had fallen by seven weeks to 142 days, while the shares approved within three and six months rose by eight and 12 percentage points, respectively. Those comparisons show that housing-finance and approval results can shift from year to year, but they do not by themselves establish a trend across mayoral administrations or explain the causes of each change. Demographics may also help explain why enrollment targets are difficult to meet. The New York City Comptroller's Office reported that the population of children age 3 and under declined by 19.3% between 2020 and 2023, providing context for the smaller pool of children eligible for pre-K and 3-K.
Pre-K and 3-K Enrollment Both Miss Targets
The city's free pre-K program enrolled 55,042 children in fiscal year 2026, below the administration's target of 59,250 and down from 56,950 the previous fiscal year. The 3-K program enrolled 43,678 children, compared with a target of 45,454 and 44,729 the year before, according to the New York Post.
The 3-K figures came from the September 2026 Mayor's Management Report, which covered fiscal year 2026. Mamdani officials attributed the enrollment declines to reduced family outreach, demographic changes, lower birth rates and families leaving New York City, the Post reports. The available demographic data support broader context for the enrollment numbers but do not determine how much each factor contributed.
What Mamdani Has Promised Going Forward
The enrollment dip comes even as Mamdani has promised free citywide childcare for children under age 5, a pledge that would expand well beyond the current pre-K and 3-K programs if implemented. The Mamdani administration has also made new investments that are expected to affect the 2026-2027 school year, according to the report.
Because fiscal year 2026 straddled the two administrations, the results are better treated as an initial benchmark than as a full assessment of Mamdani's record. They show lower housing financing and enrollment than the prior year, along with slower lottery approvals, while the administration's longer-term housing and child-care plans remain to be tested in future reports.
