Hochul and Mamdani lay out plan for universal childcare
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Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a plan to bring about the first phase of universal child care in New York City and New York State on Thursday. Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul
By Ryan Schwach
Less than 10 days into his mayoral tenure, Mayor Zohran Mamdani alongside Governor Kathy Hochul laid out a plan to address one of the mayor’s leading campaign promises: universal childcare.
Under a new plan announced Thursday, the state will drastically increase access to childcare for New Yorkers and provide programs for thousands of children between the ages of two and four, although questions remain on how the state will pay for the ambitious set of proposals.
“New York State is open for families,” Hochul said. “One of the biggest expenses for our families is the cost of childcare. We're working together with the mayor to announce the first major steps to make child care universal, truly universal, here in New York City, as well as transforming the lives of children and parents all across the state.”
The plan outlined by Hochul and Mamdani at a YMCA in Brooklyn includes funding free child care for two-year-olds in the city, on top of expanding the existing 3K program. Both are significant steps toward full universal childcare – one of Mamdani’s three main campaign promises.
“Today, we take one step to realizing a city where every New Yorker, every family, every child, can afford to keep calling it their home,” said the mayor.
The governor said Thursday she will commit to fully funding the first two years of the city’s implementation of the 2-care plan, which will focus on neighborhoods with the highest need with the goal of expanding it citywide by the end of Mamdani’s first term.
Statewide, the governor said she will invest in universal Pre-K, and expand programming across the state.
She said the total child care investment from the state this year will total $4.5 billion.
“If we can take this stress point off the plate of all the other struggles they have, my friends, then we are making New York State and New York City the best places in the nation to live, to raise a family, to grow a business and to prosper,” she said.
The total cost of the first two-years worth of investment for the 2-care plan is $1.7 billion, but the governor did not have answers for reporters on Thursday about how exactly the state would pony up that cash.
“We're focused on this today,” Hochul said, adding that their budget announcement will come on Jan. 20. “You'll be able to see the sources of our revenues.”
While finding that money, the state will have to contend with a loss of $3.6 billion for child care that was cancelled by the Trump administration this week.
Hochul said that cancellation will not affect the commitments made on Thursday and that the state is “looking at our litigation strategies.”
While not the full universal childcare Mamdani preached as one of his campaign's three trademark promises – along with free buses and a rent freeze – Hochul’s funding commitments are a major win in the first days of Mamdani’s tenure.
“We are anticipating being able to serve around 2,000 children in this city this fall, and that is going to continue to expand each and every year until we are serving each and every two-year-old across the city,” he said of the new plan. “We are going to be in sustained conversations with parents, with child care providers, as we map out the logistics of the phase in.”
The announcement is also a mark of how the new mayor may cooperate with the governor on certain issues as he seeks to carry out an agenda that leans more progressive than where Hochul generally lands.
Hochul also had a tenuous relationship with Mayor Eric Adams amid his various scandals, and both of their predecessors, Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio, had a troubled, combative rapport.
“I stand here on this stage alongside our governor in deep recognition that for too many years, the relationship between Albany and City Hall has been defined by dysfunction and discord, by feuds and by factionalism,” Mamdani said. “Petty grievances have interfered with the work of serving the people. Political posturing has consumed the attention of those with the power to transform lives, and I am deeply committed, alongside this governor, to charting a new course, one where people look to the government and expect collaboration, not competition.”
Childcare advocates are celebrating the win on Thursday.
“Universal child care makes it possible for all of our families to thrive in the city that we love, to stay here, to be here for generations, and to dig in,” said Sharon Levy from the YMCA of Greater New York. “As a provider, I appreciate the expansion of programming, increased funding, and the opportunity to serve two year olds.”
The United Federation of Teachers also signaled their support for the plan.
"Today, Gov. Hochul and Mayor Mamdani put children and families first by announcing a roadmap to bring universal childcare to all New Yorkers,” said union President Michael Mulgrew.
