In 1985, Edward Koch, Mayor of New York City, established an Early Childhood Education Commission and gave it the task of recommending how best to begin to provide public education for all of the city's 4-year-olds, beginning in September, 1986. After introductory remarks indicating the confluence and interplay of social elements underpinning the Mayor's action, this paper (1) provides a review of the historical roots of New York City's day care, Head Start, and public school prekindergarten programs; (2) describes recent initiatives in providing early childhood education; (3) briefly reports research findings concerning the effects of early childhood programs, giving particular attention to studies conducted in New York City; (4) reports on the Commission's review of demographic data related to the city's population of 4-year-olds; (5) discusses the Commission's review of existing programs, attending specifically to the large number of economically disadvantaged children who remained unserved by public programs; (6) presents and discusses the 10 recommendations the Commission made to the Mayor; (7) describes the status of efforts to implement the recommendations; and (8) identifies policy issues facing the city's implementation efforts. It is concluded that whether or not the Commission's plan will be fully realized is a matter of policy. (RH)