NYC parents locked out of ‘Summer Rising’ program after seats scooped up in enrollment rush

Key Facts

An early enrollment boom in New York City’s free summer camp program has left some parents locked out and scrambling for alternative summer arrangements just a week after enrollment opened.
The 110,000 seats available to elementary and middle school students in the second year of the city’s “Summer Rising” program have filled at a rapid clip since registration opened last Monday — with 82,000 seats already claimed as of Monday evening, according to the Education Department.
The enrollment crunch appears to be most acute at the elementary school level, where, out of a total 266 programs serving kindergarten to fifth-grade students, only 28 were still listed as having open seats on the registration portal as of Tuesday morning.
No elementary programs in Queens or Staten Island were available, while there was more space for middle schoolers.