Mayor Adams first pitched the online portal as a candidate in 2021.

“I call it MyCity,” he said at an Association for a Better New York interview then.

Now, after developing MyCity during his 15 months as mayor, Adams is unveiling the first phase of a tool that his team said offers users a personalized connection to government services.

“Today, we’re spotlighting the childcare section of MyCity portal,” he said Wednesday at City Hall. “For the first time, families who need help paying for childcare can apply in one place with one application.”

What You Need To Know

  • MyCity's first phase will help New Yorkers determine whether they qualify for childcare services, then connect them

  • Latter phases will include options for more information about jobs and benefits

  • MyCity saves user data for a personalized experience where 311 offers generalized information

The difference-maker, he said, is removing the need to shuffle around paperwork and apply agency by agency, launching a platform that saves user information and is specific where 311 is general.

“Imagine a day when you can fill out—online, from your home, from your phone—you can fill out onetime interaction with the city and never again have to put in your social security number, your date of birth, all of that information,” he said.

Adams has long intended MyCity to be of particular help to low-income families struggling to navigate bureaucracy.

“It’s a full-time job to be poor in New York,” he said at the April 2021 event on the campaign trail. “Families in need have to spend hours dealing with multiple agencies, all just to prove again and again that they deserve benefits.”

MyCity’s future phases will include options for New Yorkers seeking jobs and information about benefits. Its second phrase is slated to launch later this year.

The city’s chief technology officer, Matthew Fraser, assured that measures were in place to protect sensitive personal data.

“New York City, from a cybersecurity perspective, is the safest city,” he said.

Fraser and Adams also sought to allay concerns about any potential shortcomings or glitches.

“Some of those things work and they may not be the best, but at least they’re something,” Fraser said. “So we’re not going to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

Meanwhile, in a manner that recalled how the 311 non-emergency information system was one hallmark for Michael Bloomberg’s tenure, Adams predicted MyCity would have a long-lasting impact.

“This is a legacy product,” he told reporters. “And when you’re doing a legacy project, you cannot be worried about, Did I beat the clock? No. We’re going to get this right.”

City officials said that phase one of the MyCity portal complements gains they’ve made in increasing childcare funding as well as expanding broadband access.

They expect about 5,000 users a month will apply for childcare subsidies.

About $4 million was budgeted for the initial launch.