But in Japan's cities, even private centers are oversubscribed.
Working parents often end up paying more to send their kids to private centers.
The strike shut down 358 private centers that are financed largely by the city.
And the long-term outlook is rosy: Federal government spending on immigrant detention in private centers has gone from $760m in 2002 to upwards of $1bn annually today.
The union's members are teachers, cooks, custodians and supervisors at 350 private centers throughout New York City that are financed largely by the city.
There are nearly 2,000 people in four state-run psychiatric hospitals and a similar number in private centers and group homes.
This regulatory gap has allowed one New York veterinarian to treat horses at private centers despite a felony conviction for selling anabolic steroids to weight-lifters and a history of violating state rules on drugs in racing.
With an estimated six children who may qualify, Mr. O'Neill said he had reached out to a few private centers in town, and one might have room but would also have an annual tuition of $16,000.
"My brother, he won't admit it, but I'm sure there has been some influence by me," McEnroe said of his younger brother Patrick, who heads player development for the United States Tennis Association, which often conflicts with coaches and private centers like Sportime.
According to the Nassau and Suffolk County Child Care Councils, which are nonprofit agencies that make referrals to both public and private centers, there were 312 for-profit and nonprofit facilities in Nassau and Suffolk in 2000, compared with only 146 in 1990.
In Twin Rivers, he said, the issue is somewhat larger: "What are the rights of members of an association to democratic governance within the community?" He said he brought the Twin Rivers suit, like his earlier cases, under the State Constitution, because "New Jersey is far ahead of the rest of the country in protecting people from private centers of power".
