by Leslie Brody

March 17, 2015

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio touted the city’s expansion of free, full-day preschool on Tuesday, saying families signed up almost 22,000 children for next fall on the first day they could apply.

A new online-enrollment system, which lets parents rank their choices in district and community-based centers through the same process, made its debut on Monday. The city said 6,500 signed up on the first day last year, though that figure included only requests for seats in district classrooms.

At a news conference at the Boys and Girls Harbor preschool in Upper Manhattan, Mr. de Blasio said the high number of requests showed families had become more conscious of the value of prekindergarten.

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