E.E.
I looked into it when I was pregnant with my son and still had not found anything that I was happy with by the time my son was 3 months old, so I just stayed home with him because my salary was not enough to justify paying that much. But I did a lot of research with this website: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/dc/daycarelist.shtml
It is really great. It lists all the day care centers and family day cares by borough. You can search by zip code too. You can also click on the name of a center and see the results of their latest health department reviews from the past year or so, which includes scores and give a description of any violations they have. This way you can find the safest place and then go visit and look into it. Also ask for recommendations from your pediatrician.