Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Good morning, Kingsbridge! It is a pleasure to be here in the Bronx shooting hoops with New York's cutest and one of Brooklyn's best-dressed, “Ellie” diva. I have to give a round of applause. I want to acknowledge a number of leaders we have here, including our Council Member Tiffany Cabán; our executive director of the Mayor's Office of Child Care, Emmy Liss; our Little Daydreamers Director Brenda Bueno, who is also here with us. And I want to thank the Little Daydreamers educators and students for joining us here today as well because we know that Ellie the Elephant does not leave her borough for just about anything, especially when she has a busy schedule with the Liberty going to the Commissioner's Cup. But Ellie is as wise of an elephant as they come. And she knows that today's announcement is a worthy one.
Today, we are gathered to remind New York families that there are just two days left to sign up for free 2-K seats this fall. We are starting with 2,000 seats across five of our school districts right here in District 10, with District 6, 18, 23 and 27 as well. This fall, that means that free childcare is coming for two-year-olds to the neighborhoods of Washington Heights, Inwood and Hamilton Heights, Fordham, Belmont, Van Cortlandt Village, Morris Heights, Norwood and here in Kingsbridge, Canarsie, Remsen Village, Brownsville and Ocean Hill, Ozone Park and South Ozone Park, Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, Howard Beach and The Rockaways.
But in order to be a part of this incredible program, you have to apply by this Friday at 11:59 p.m., which is sooner than many may think. So, if you or anyone you know has a child born in 2024, help us spread the word. Again, applications close this Friday at 11:59 p.m. And offers will be released in August. You can fill out an application in less time than it takes to watch Ms. Rachel and Elmo's “Brushy Brush” video. So do not wait.
All you have to do is go to myschools.nyc to sign up. That is a website where you will find more than 10 different languages offering you the assistance to complete an application that could save you and your family more than $20,000 per year. You can also apply by calling 718-935-2009 or visiting one of our 10 family welcome centers in person, where you can also receive translation and application help. Now, if you don't live near one of these districts, please know that we are working hard to bring 2-K to you. Come fall of next year, we will be expanding these 2,000 seats to 12,000 seats. And this is what progress looks like.
And it is in thanks to no small part to our partnership with Governor Hochul, who we worked with to deliver $1.2 billion toward putting our city on a path to universal childcare. It is also thanks to the New Yorkers who spent years fighting for this. The parents who spent what little free time they had canvassing up six-floor walk-ups with a baby strapped to their chest.
The New Yorkers who stood on street corners in the heat, collecting petition signatures, because they believed in a New York that they, too, could afford. And the childcare workers who ensured that, as we expand childcare access, we build a system that works for everyone who participates in it, parents, children and childcare workers.
Together, we will build a city where crushing childcare costs are a thing of the past and where the people who love this city can afford to raise a family and build a life in this city. Thank you very much, and I will now pass it over to Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán.
Council Member Tiffany Cabán: Good morning, everyone. I'm going to be honest — I wish that my entire job was shooting hoops with kids and Big Ellie and the mayor right here. And I'm telling you, I was watching them dunk, take jump shots [and make] middies. And they're going to give, you know, JJ and Stewie a run for their money.
But in all seriousness, it's an honor to be here with all of you to talk about 2-K, because when a family has access to 2-K, studies show that it can be transformational for the success of those students. And it means that parents don't need to break the bank just to put their kids in 2-K. And as a co-chair of the unofficial “Tía Caucus” of the City Council, I know that childcare is not just transformational for the kid and for their parents. It's good for the whole village around the family, too. And 2-K is essential to creating happy, healthy and safe communities. So, I'm grateful for Mayor Mamdani's work with us to expand 2-K and make it more accessible for New Yorkers, not just the wealthy few.
And so, if you're watching this and you've got a kid born in 2024, like we said, we've got to say it ten more times today: apply for 2-K by this Friday. And we're going to keep fighting until childcare is universal for every single family across our city — from right here in the Bronx to Astoria to Bay Ridge. This is a cornerstone of making our city affordable, livable and safe for working families who have been left out for far too long.
So, thank you, Mayor Mamdani. Thank you for the Office of Childcare. And thank you to these incredible students and their teachers. And thank you to my dear friend Ellie the Elephant and her Stompaz that's always here giving out that support. To Executive Director Liss, Little Daydreamers Director Brenda Bueno and all of the educators: for all that you're doing to deliver on the vision of childcare for all New Yorkers, thank you.
[Crosstalk.]
Mayor Mamdani: Yes, it’s true. The applications are open until 11:59 p.m. Friday night.
Question: I want to ask you about the results from last night. But firstly, have you spoken to Congressman Hakeem Jeffries since last night? What would be your message to him having beaten two incumbents? And is this a personal victory for you, or do you actually see this as some sort of realignment for the Democratic Party across the country? And I do have another question, if I may.
Mayor Mamdani: I'll be speaking with Congressman Jeffries later today. And I'm looking forward to working with Congressman Jeffries on delivering for the people of our city. And what I see these results as a reflection of are the fact that New Yorkers are hungry for a new kind of politics. They are hungry for a politics that understands working people should be at the heart of it. And they're hungry for a politics that looks at the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world and understands that it's unacceptable that one in four are living in poverty.
It's unacceptable that too many New Yorkers are spending all of their day trying to figure out how they're going to make their rent check or pay for their groceries or pay their Con Ed bill. And what we saw last night was a hunger for leaders who will be there on the front lines looking to make it easier for working people to afford life in the greatest city in the world.
Question: We now have three potential DSA-aligned members of Congress. What do you think we should expect from those members? Is it single-payer funded health care? Is it abolishing borders? Or do you think they should be singularly focused on cutting off aid — military aid to Israel?
Mayor Mamdani: What we're going to see from the three congressional candidates that I was so proud to endorse and who all won yesterday in Darializa Avila Chevalier, Claire Valdez, Brad Lander [and] as well as what we're going to see from the five state legislative candidates that I endorsed that won yesterday evening, Illapa Sairitupac, Eli Northrup, Samantha Kattan, Aber Kawas and Brian Romero, is a singular focus on the fight of the working person.
The working person is struggling in our city to afford basic needs. And what you will see, whether it's a vision on making health care more affordable, on making housing more affordable, or on a vision — as Darializa often talks about of — investing in babies, not bombs, is the kind of conscience, the kind of clarity, the kind of conviction that has been missing in our politics for far too long. And I cannot wait to work with them on accomplishing that.
Question: Gloria touched on a little bit of what I was going to ask, but your chosen candidates will now likely cause the number of socialists in the House to rise from — to double from two to four at least, I believe the number is. But what are two specific examples of federal policies that they could change with their votes, given that we're talking about four socialists?
Mayor Mamdani: I think what we can see in their candidacies and what we will see in their leadership is a commitment to humanity. And when it comes to domestic policy, I know that for many of them, one clear area of concern is the cruelty of ICE. You've heard from a number of — not just the candidates who became congresspeople last night, but rather candidates across the country — the need to abolish ICE. It's something that I've echoed myself. And when I think about Darializa 's campaign — one part of her track record that stuck out for so many in that district and stuck out for me was a track record of speaking up for New Yorkers who had been unjustly detained by ICE and starting to create an immigration policy in this country that has humanity at the heart of it instead of the cruelty.
And then when she speaks about babies, not bombs — when Claire Valdez speaks about a foreign policy that understands human rights for all — when Brad Lander commits to co-sponsoring Block the Bombs, all of that is reflective also of a commitment to a new approach to ensuring that we're fighting for working people and that we're ensuring that every dollar that we're paying into our taxes is a dollar that also reflects our values in the way it's being spent.
Question: Responding to last night's election results, President Trump said that “America the beautiful will never become a communist country.” We know you have said you're not a communist. However, do you hope that America — is it your goal to make America a socialist country?
Mayor Mamdani: My goal is to make America a place that every American can afford. And frankly what we see is while that is an especially challenging goal here in New York City, the nation's most expensive city, I know it's an issue that every working person across the country is facing. And what we need is a politics that puts working people back at the heart of what we focus on and what we fight for as opposed to making them a footnote.
Question: Two questions for you about the races last night. I'm wondering if the victories show that communities are open to DSA's messaging, but I'm wondering; we've already seen from some Republican candidates how they plan to message the victories last night, sort of going out and saying that Democrats are interested in these severe sorts of stances, such as incarceration and no deportation. So, I'm wondering if you're concerned about whether that victory — how that will play in November as Democrats try to win back the House. And I have a second question.
Mayor Mamdani: You know, every time the fight for working people takes a step forward, you will hear Republicans say that this is actually going to jeopardize the existence of that very fight. A year ago, when I won the Democratic nomination to be the mayor of our city, we heard ad nauseum from Republicans not just across our city but across the country of how this was going to make it more difficult for working people to live a life that they could afford. And what we found time and time again is no matter what attempts there are at mischaracterizing any one position or policy, what is shining through for New Yorkers and for Americans is a focus on the working person. And when I walked the streets with Claire, with Brad [and] with Darializa, what we spoke to New Yorkers about was how we could make it easier for them to afford childcare, for them to afford their rent check, for them to afford to live in the district that they grew up in.
The other night I was walking with Darializa in Harlem, a man came out of a bodega and in his hands, he had Huggies. He had two packages of Huggies and he was heading home. And she often speaks about a politics of life. She speaks about babies, not bombs. What could be a better example of what the people of the district want to see versus what the people of the district have been forced to experience, which is tens of billions of dollars being spent at a national level to bomb children overseas while children in our own districts are struggling.
Question: My second question is I'm wondering, you know, you had some congressional victories but also some state victories last night. I'm wondering how you think those victories will help realize your agenda in Albany and have you had a conversation with those winners about your new agenda in Albany? And I'm wondering, do you think this also shifts the sort of balance of power between yourself and the governor to have an additional number of socialists now in office?
Mayor Mamdani: I'm incredibly excited to have endorsed eight candidates, five at the state level, three at the federal level, and to have seen every single one of those candidates win last night. And what their successes represent is a shift in the balance of power between working people and special interests. And finally, working people are going to have more of a voice in the halls of power wherever that hall may be, be it Albany or be it in D.C.
And I'm excited because a year ago today I was elected as the Democratic nominee with a message of focusing on making life in this city more affordable. And in each of these candidates I see partners in that work. Whether we're speaking about Eli Northrup, who will now be the state Assembly member for the district that I grew up in, or we're speaking about Claire Valdez, who will be the congresswoman of the neighborhood I used to live in before I became the mayor, we're going to see people who understand working people as their compass and who understand the results that those working people want to see.
Question: [Inaudible.] Are you now moving full forward with tax the rich?
Mayor Mamdani: I've been clear about the policies that I hold. I've also been honest with New Yorkers about what I believe is necessary to deliver on that affordability. And I'm proud to be standing here speaking about 2-K, which is only possible because of the partnership we have with Governor Hochul, [and] I look forward to that partnership continuing.
Question: I'm looking at the results from the New York Times and Avila Chevalier, just for instance, overwhelmingly won precincts with younger voters, college-educated precincts, higher-income areas and she lost, though more narrowly, low-income areas, majority Black precincts [and] majority Hispanic precincts. Why is that? And why does the message of your democratic socialists seem to not prevail when actual public housing residents, actual low-income New Yorkers get a chance to vote?
Mayor Mamdani: I haven't dug into the granular details of yesterday evening's results as yet. What I will say, though, is what we've found time and again is that a message of fighting for working people is one that resonates. I stand here as a mayor who received more than a million votes when I ran to hold this position, and I know that whether we're speaking of Darializa, we're speaking of Claire, we're speaking of Brad or we're speaking of any one of the five candidates who ran for state legislature that I endorsed, there was a connection with not just enough voters to eke out a victory but in many of those cases, enough voters to create a mandate.
Question: For the DSA members, they had to apologize for past social media commentary, the way they phrased things, talking about policies that didn't have anything to do with making it in the city and I wanted to get your opinion on it. Are you going to take them to [the] “Mamdani School of Politics” and avoid having their worst moments be the face of the Democratic Party in a contested midterm election around the country?
Mayor Mamdani: I think we can see from each of these candidates that they have exactly what it takes to succeed and we've heard from Republicans time and again, that they're going to try and make these candidates the face of the Democratic Party. To them, I say that we are ready for that, because for far too long we have been told that it is not possible to fight for working people and win. These candidates have shown that they can. Let the Republicans talk about that more.
Question: I just wanted to ask, after the success both you and the candidates you supported saw yesterday, do you plan to throw your weight behind other races in the future?
Mayor Mamdani: I can tell you that for right now, I am just reflecting on an incredible evening and incredible campaigns that have been run over the course of many, many months. However, I made a promise a year ago to New Yorkers that I would use every tool at my disposal to fulfill our affordability agenda, and electing more partners to do so is exactly one of those tools. And I will always look to ensure that we are exhausting every avenue we have to transform the nation's most expensive city into one that's affordable.
Question: Just a really quick second question. Moving off of the primaries, I know news broke this morning that the NYPD and the FBI had served a series of warrants looking into the ongoing corruption investigation of the Police Department. I just wanted to ask you your reaction to that.
Mayor Mamdani: Our government should serve the public with integrity. Any corruption would amount to a serious violation of the responsibility within the NYPD and a breach in public trust. As Commissioner Tisch said earlier today, this is an investigation that the NYPD is conducting with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Commissioner Tisch has already shown a real commitment to cracking down on corruption and ensuring that the public servants in the NYPD are held to the highest standards. I'm confident that she will lead us through this process.
Question: I'm just curious, going back to the primaries, are you worried at all that Darializa’s election might complicate campaigns for Democrats as a whole, not including, as we talked about earlier, with Republicans attacking, but just campaigns in more moderate districts?
Mayor Mamdani: No. I believe that Darializa’s campaign — which was built on a politics of life, on a vision of babies, not bombs, on a call to abolish ICE — is one that is in line with what many working people want across this country. And I think that you will be hard-pressed to find someone who believes that the status quo is serving them today.
And what Darializa offers — alongside Claire, alongside Brad, alongside every one of the five state legislative candidates that also prevailed yesterday evening — is a vision for a new kind of politics, one that asks: “What can we stand for beyond just standing up to the cruelty of the federal government”?
Question: I'm wondering if you can build off of all of these primary questions. You obviously said there needs to be change within the Democratic Party. You saw this play out for the candidates that you endorsed last night. Do you see yourself looking into more national races, speaking out to maybe mayors or governors in other states where you see that change could be influenced? And do you see yourself getting involved in national politics that way?
Mayor Mamdani: I'll say that I've had conversations with other mayors, with other leaders across the country over the course of the time that I've had the privilege of being the mayor of our city. My focus has been on ensuring that our city is one where we see partners at every level of government in enacting this affordability agenda. And I've also said before that the struggle for a working person — it's not unique to our city. Working people are struggling across the country.
And part of my hope in working to elect these congresspeople, these state legislators, is also to help write a new chapter in our party's history, where working people are back at the heart of that struggle. And I believe that that will be key in not just the midterms coming up in November, but also in the years to come where Americans will be asking themselves: “Is this a party that is willing to go beyond just standing up to the cruelty of the federal administration, but also a party that's willing to stand up for a vision that looks at the struggles that working people are living through and actually addresses it with ways that it can make their lives easier”? Thank you so much.
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