Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Good morning, everyone. It is a pleasure to be here in the Bronx for an announcement that we have been looking forward to making for quite some time. Before I begin, I want to thank Governor Kathy Hochul for her partnership. Making universal childcare a reality has always been a core part of your fight for New York's families, and it has been a privilege to do this work alongside you. And today, frankly, would not be possible were it not for your support. I also want to acknowledge leaders both inside and outside of City government that are here with us today. We have our New York City Public Schools chancellor, Kamar Samuels, here with us. We have our Bronx borough president, Vanessa Gibson. We have our state senator, Gustavo Rivera, who is here with us. We have the chair of the education committee of the City Council, Eric Dinowitz, who is with us here. We have Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz, who is also here with us, and we know that Councilmember Amanda Farías will be joining us shortly. And I want to thank, finally, the whole team at BedRock Preschool for having us here this morning and for the incredible work that they do on a daily basis. We can give them a round of applause.
In the 2012 mixtape “Rich Forever,” Rick Ross and French Montana expound on what it takes to stay scheming within a system that so often seems to benefit only a select few. Unfortunately, too many New York City families can relate. Though the circumstances of their schemes may look different, they too must stay creative to afford childcare in our city. While there is pride in managing to make it all work, Rick Ross is clear that scheming takes a toll — stress, exhaustion [and] hypervigilance. Again, what working parent can't relate.
Today, we are one step closer to doing away with New Yorkers’ need to stay scheming because today we are incredibly proud to announce that we have filled our first seats for free 2-K programs in our city. Next month, 2,000 of New York's cutest will begin learning, playing and growing at 2-K programs across four areas of our city, including right here in School District 10.
We are lucky enough to have a participating family here today. Can we please give Sandra and Stella a round of applause as they take on this exciting new chapter? As we said about this work, we made a promise to take seriously the feedback we'd heard from parents for years about 3-K and about pre-K. For universal childcare to work, it needs to meet parents where they are — not a borough away, not three train transfers away, but in a way that works for working parents' lives. Today, I am proud to say we have delivered that.
Among the families we have been able to place, more than 80 percent received an offer to one of their top three choices with close to 60 percent receiving their first choice. Ninety-nine percent received offers to a program they expressed preference for, and a full 100 percent of these families will save more than $20,000 per child per year on childcare beginning this fall. At the same time, we know that demand for universal free 2-K is high. We received more than 5,700 applications for 2,000 seats. That's about three applicants for every available seat.
In the coming days and weeks, we will be reaching out to families on our waitlists to walk them through their options. Availability historically opens up before the first day of school, and these families will be the first to know. While there is still much to be done, today represents a monumental step on the path to universal childcare here in New York City, a step that brings us closer to the moment where that process and that promise tobecome a reality. In just a few weeks, 2,000 two-year-olds will put on their googly-eyed crocs and strap on their tiny backpacks and head to their first day of 2-K.
Next year, that number will jump from 2,000 to 12,000. But this journey did not begin seven months ago when I took office or nearly two years ago when we made free universal childcare a central tenet of the campaign for mayor. This journey began many years ago with organizers, advocates and working parents across the five boroughs, sounding the alarm about the crushing cost of childcare. It began with New Yorkers who spoke of loving their neighborhoods, loving their careers [and] loving their families but who were forced to move, forced to drop out of the workforce or forego another child because of the unaffordability of childcare.
I want to thank each and every one of those New Yorkers who spent time they didn't have knocking on doors, talking to their neighbors, gathering signatures for petitions with a newborn strapped to their chest. We stand on the precipice of a truly transformative moment for our city because of you. Together, we are writing a better chapter for all those who come next, for the generations of New Yorkers many years from now who will start families here in our city and who will not need to worry about leaving their job or moving out of the neighborhood they love to make it all work.
Surely, Rick Ross would agree there is more than one way to be rich forever and that this future we are building is one of them. On behalf of all those New Yorkers who come next, thank you for everything you have already done and for everything that we will do together. Thank you so much. I will now pass it over to not only the governor of our state, but a partner in this work and someone without whom today would not have been possible. Please join me in welcoming Governor Hochul.
Governor Kathy Hochul: Thank you, mayor, and I want to thank you for executing on a vision with such speed and to your entire team who made this happen, taking it from a dream to reality in such record speed. I mean, this is what government is all about. It's supposed to work for the people, but not years from now, but now when the need is so incredibly great. So, you've been a great partner, and now I'm really proud to stand with you here today as well as all the elected officials that have been acknowledged and our chancellor as well.
Today, 2,000 families are going to click on their inbox, and their lives will change forever. Imagine getting an offer that your child will now be eligible for free childcare. The excitement you must feel. All of a sudden, the burden lifted off your chest. And you look at that pile of bills and say, “Maybe I actually can make these payments this month.” And all of a sudden, life feels good. Life feels manageable. All kinds of possibilities have opened up for you and your family, whether it's you can now stay in the neighborhood you wanted to, raise your family right here in New York, or if you're thinking about it, even expand your family now, because you know it won't be that crushing burden that you had been living under before. You know what it means to your family when you will have a chance to really get ahead for the first time.
This is what today means. This is the significance of this moment. An enormous weight, as I said, has been lifted. And families all across New York will receive that sense of relief starting in 19 communities across New York City. And when I talk about this, it's in the backdrop of what's happening in Washington. Well, here in New York, we're prioritizing our youngest, giving them a head start at a better life. We literally have the Trump administration talk about eviscerating the long-standing, wildly successful, nonpartisan Head Start program. So, I'm proud of what we're doing here in New York. But always conscious there's other states that don't have the same leadership, that are not prioritizing families the way we are here in New York.
So, let us be a model to others. Let them know that in our hearts, we know who we're putting first, and that is New York's families and New York’s children. So here we are, talking about the high cost of childcare [and] what it does to families. You talk about, mayor, the families that may not have to contemplate leaving their jobs. I was the person who left my job. You've heard me tell this story. I love my job. It's something I dreamed about for a long time, but I also dreamed about starting a family with my new husband. And those two desires collided when I could not find childcare that we could afford. So, I had to walk away from my job. My future was uncertain, the income in our family plummeted, and all of a sudden I'm there clutching coupons trying to get the biggest box of diapers I could find at the big-box store — I was there — and that is why, as governor, this is so deeply personal to me, to know that families, because of our partnership and our willingness to put money — not just words, but money — behind real programs, will not have to endure the same stress that my young family had to deal with.
Now, those little kids are having their own families. That's why I'm so good with your little daughter. I play with children as often as I can because there's some part of me that feels so connected to little ones, their innocence. And they believe that there's adults who will take care of them. They don't have a worry in the world. That's what today’s about. Not just taking that worry away from kids, but also from their parents. Their parents deserve to have a worry-free existence. And that's what's going to continue to make New York City [and] New York State so exceptional [is] when we prioritize our families. And people say, “Yes, it's expensive in New York,” but you know what? When all of a sudden, you don't have to cover $20,000, sometimes upwards of $40,000 for one child alone, that's life changing. That is life changing. And we're doing this all over New York. I made a commitment in our budget this past year, $4.5 billion for childcare and pre-K across the state. There are places of New York [that] we do not even have a four-year-old program. I wanna make sure we level the playing field so all children in the State of New York have the same opportunities. So, we're investing 35,000 more seats for pre-K across the states so every four-year-old has access. We have pilot programs going on in Monroe, Dutchess and Broome counties to start getting infants into programs. A thousand infants will now have access to programs. So, it starts with programs like these. And we're continuing to expand.
If I add it all up since I've been governor, [the] first “mom governor,” $12 billion toward childcare that had not been spent before. That's how we change people's lives. That's why we want them to look at New York State [and] New York City, to a different set of eyes. And to all the employers out there, this is for you as well. Because when you're trying to recruit people, the best talent from elsewhere, to get young people to stay here instead of going elsewhere, you can say, “Come to New York, stay in New York” because now we're helping with the cost of childcare. This is gonna be a game changer that is gonna position us for great leadership and excellence for decades to come. So again, mayor, this is a great one to team up on. We do it not just for making sure that we support our families, but we're doing it for the future of all little children. So, thank you very much for making this happen. Thank you.
Mayor Mamdani: And I want to appreciate the governor for her leadership, for her remarks, and I'd like to now also introduce our chancellor, Kamar Samuels.
Kamar Samuels, Chancellor, New York City Public Schools: Alright, thank you so much. This is so exciting. I want to thank everyone for joining us as we celebrate 2-K offers to families for the 2026 school year. Thank you so much — Mayor Mamdani; the first “Mom Governor,” Kathy Hochul; the Division of Early Childhood; [and] the Mayor's Office of Child Care and Early Child Education — for their hard work and collaboration to make this possible. There are so many people who made today a great day because for the first time ever, we are extending more than 2,000 offers to families for 2-K for the upcoming school year. Let that sink in for a moment.
Over 2,000 families will have that notification on MySchools that their two-year-old has a seat waiting for them in a free, high-quality early care education program. As chancellor, I know what that means for our city. Our early childhood education isn't just a nice to have. It is one of the most powerful investments we can make in any child's life. We know that the earlier we begin nurturing young minds, the stronger the foundation we build for everything that follows. And I also know what it means as a parent doing the math on childcare costs and feeling uneasy, trying to make the best choice for your child's care and wanting to ensure support for the little ones you love most.
That's why this isn't just about seats in a classroom. It's about giving families peace of mind, knowing your child is nurtured, safe and cared for in a high-quality educational setting like this one. So, parents can go to work or school. Or catch their breath for the first time in a while. And that's why it's gonna be great that Fred, Sandra, and Stella get to walk three minutes to a program with their kid. Well, it might take — thank you, thank you very much. It might take 10 minutes if they let Stella walk because she likes the rocks. But this is what it looks like when a city invests in young residents, and when we take our commitment to provide every child the best start in life very seriously. I can't wait to welcome all New York's cutest next year to our 2-K classrooms. I look forward to visiting a center in the fall. Let's get it started. Thank you so much.
Question: So, you said there's just over 5,700 people who applied for this program, but there's only 2,000 seats. Can you explain how you narrowed down which families would be selected for the program? Was it based on income, location? How did you decide who would be getting these first 2,000 seats?
Mayor Mamdani: Yes, so as we have always said, this first year would have 2,000 seats of free childcare for two-year-olds. And thanks to the governor's commitment, we would be able to expand next year to 12,000 seats in total. And as you said, we received about 5,700 applications for these 2,000 or so seats. And that means about 3,700 are on wait lists while we were able to grant admission to about 2,000 of those families. I'm going to pass it over to our executive director of the Office to Support Childcare, Emily Liss.
Emmy Liss, Executive Director, Office of Child Care So among the applicants — in order to determine who received those placements — we go through a priority structure very similar to the way children are admitted to 3-K, Pre-K, kindergarten and beyond. So, the highest priority went to children who have siblings or continuing students at programs with families who live in the 2-K districts being prioritized as well. And families when they applied were able to see what that priority structure would look like. So, the majority of our applicants — our families receiving offers there — are children who live in the districts that were prioritized for the expansion of 2-K, as well as the families who may have a sibling or [are] continuing at the program where they were headed.
Question: Is there a deadline that they have to accept the offer by to be — you know — possibly a seat going to somebody on the wait list.
Executive Director Liss: Families have to accept their offers by the end of August, we can get you the exact date.
Question: So, there was a new study out that says that the childcare program is going to be much more costly than initially suggested, that it could cost up to nine billion dollars. I'm just wondering, what exactly is going be the strategy to ramp this up and to keep costs down? And then for Governor Kathy Hochul, just wondering will the state continue to fund this program? Is this just kick-starting or will the state be expected to fully fund this program for the years to come, especially when it expands?
Mayor Mamdani: So, I'll just begin by saying that when I acknowledged earlier the partnership with Governor Hochul, it's a partnership that began at the very beginning of this administration. On day eight, we stood together in Brooklyn announcing that the state would be committing $1.2 billion and that was funding that not only allowed us to offer these 2,000 seats this year, 12,000 seats next year, it also ensured that we had funding to fix the issues that parents [had] identified with 3-K. Because we'd heard from many parents that as much as they had dreamed, like Sandra and Fred, of being able to walk three minutes or maybe ten minutes if we look at the rocks to their school, that too many parents were being forced to go miles away from their home to find that childcare. And so, that funding helped us also resolve those issues while also providing funding towards vouchers. And we've always said that the goal here is to make it affordable to raise a family; because the question is not about whether this will cost money, it's a question of who will pay that money. And what I mean by that is that today, we have families across the city spending — as the governor said — between $20,000 to $40,000 a year to raise their child in the nation's most expensive city. And this is an initiative that we are working on, not just for the short term or the medium term, but the long term, to make it easier to raise that family here in New York City.
Governor Kathy Hochul: We plan to do an independent verification of the actual costs required, not just an outside study, that's how we operate, so I want to make sure that the media understands that. And in my budget this year, we've allocated $4.5 billion for childcare, as the mayor outlined, substantial amounts of that coming to the city, but also trying to expand to areas that have been underserved across the state of New York. I am committed through the program next year. I can't commit future budgets at this time. But I can tell you right now, I'm excited about the growth of this. This is just the very beginning. We know there's a lot more families to be served. We'll serve them in a way that we can afford. But I was proud to make the allocation we did within the confines of our existing budget this year and make commitments for next year as well.
Question: Well, first of all, I'm wondering, because you had 5,700 people apply, what were the qualifications, or what were the priorities that you gave in selecting the 2,000 people that actually made the cut? And what would you say to the parents who didn't make the cut about what they can look forward to in the future? And then I have a few give us more details about the funding, like where will you raise the money for next year's 12,000, and for the ongoing years, will you have to take it from other parts of the budget?
Mayor Mamdani: So, I'll go across the two questions. The governor made a two-year commitment in a funding stream of $1.2 billion. So, that allowed us to start with a program that would offer 2,000 seats this year and fund us through the expansion of that to 12,000 seats next year. Now, you've heard Senator Liz Warren describe childcare as infrastructure, and I think it's an apt characterization; because in order to provide these kinds of seats, we also have to do the work of ramping up the infrastructure so that we have the capacity. So, 2,000 seats this year, and then we're going to have seats in every single one of the five boroughs next year. And the reason we can do that is because of the incredible work at New York City Public Schools as well as through our office to support childcare over the course of that time period. Now, on your first question, as you heard from Emmy, and I think Emmy it might be worth just going through once more, priority is given to families who are in district who their child is already, you know, attending the school at a younger age. We also have a number of families who are applying who have siblings enrolled in that same school. This is always geared with the ease of parents' lives in mind. We don't want to have parents who have to drop off one child over here and then go to another neighbor to drop them off over there, but I know that Emmy will add additional details.
Executive Director Liss: When families applied to 2-K, they have the opportunity to list up to 12 options on their application, very similar to the way our 3-K and Pre-K processes work. And then we, on the back end, work to match families to their highest rank choice pending availability. As the mayor reiterated, priority is given to families who live in the district, families who have a sibling at the program or who are continuing at the program. And then it's essentially a lottery among families who are in each of those priority groups. We know that there are so many families who want access to these seats and we wanted, as the mayor said, to make the process as easy as possible. So, all families had to do to apply was provide their child's birth date and their address. And then we worked to match families based on the priority structure. And then again, essentially a lottery where not all families could be matched. Families who applied to 2-K and did not receive an offer will be automatically placed on the wait list for any program they ranked on their application. We will be reaching out to families in the coming days to support them through that process. And as we are able to make wait list offers ahead of the first day of school, we will be in touch with families, and we are also working to add some additional capacity to meet some of the need. But we know this is why we need to continue growing the program.
Question: The 12,000 seats next year, will they be in every school district, or will they be limited to certain school districts?
Mayor Mamdani: We are going to expand across a number of school districts. They will be in every single borough. And as we know, Staten Island is a single school district. And we're going to be announcing that over the course of the next few months as to where that expansion will be, because I think what is always in mind for us is we want to be able to deliver this to every single parent, and we've said that by the end of four years that every single two-year-old will have a seat.
Question: Mr. Mayor, during the campaign and since then, you've talked about the need to raise taxes on the wealthy, on high earners and on corporations, in large part to fund universal 2-K. Do you still see the need for that or is it possible to fund 2-K going forward without increasing taxes on the wealthy?
Mayor Mamdani: I think the most important thing is that we fund programs like this. And what has truly been an incredible experience is having a partner at the state level in Governor Hochul, who is committed to that outcome. It meant that we could allocate $1.2 billion with just over a week of being in office. And I think in a city, in a country, in a world, frankly, where it seems that prices are only ever going up, to finally being able to tell families that the price of this one thing that they cannot live without is going down, it is something that is really at the core of what government should be doing. And it's only possible with partnership, and I'm very thankful for the governor as well as our leaders that we have here at the city and the state level for making that possible.
Question: The governor mentioned an independent cost analysis. Is the City working with the state on that? Do you have timing for when that will come out? And do you have a sense if the $9 billion figure is more in the ballpark than the previously estimated $6 billion?
Mayor Mamdani: I think, as you heard from the governor, it's only right that we do an independent analysis and ensure that we have our full capacity being committed to having an assessment of what the cost is and what the scaling is. I will tell you that our focus right now at this time is actually on delivering this free childcare to families of two-year-olds across our city, and we're excited that in just a little — not too long from now, we're going to see families who can benefit from this. It's going to scale up to 12,000 seats, and we're going to continue to always do the work to ensure that that can expand out so that every family can have free childcare for two-year-olds.
Question: That analysis happening now, or—
Mayor Mamdani: That's something the governor said. That is a focus of coming forward.
Question: I know that you've said you wanted to take the Mayor's Fund in a different direction and involve more community organizers and labor union leaders, etc. What message are you trying to send in removing the entire advisory board from the Mayor's Fund? These are corporate leaders who have shown willingness to volunteer their time and also an ability to tap into a vast network of wealth to help raise millions of dollars for the priorities of past mayors, including universal Pre-K, by the way. And so, I'm wondering, why not keep them around and ask them to help with initiatives like this one today, 2-K for instance? Is this a rebuke of good corporate citizenship, and are you putting ideology over practicality?
Mayor Mamdani: I think, first and foremost, we have a real appreciation for the contributions of these business leaders to the health and vitality of our city. And what this a reflection of is simply a commitment to a new era. And that is something that I've spoken of at large, but also specifically when it comes to the Mayor's Fund, we announced in April the direction that we wanted to take the fund with, and the creation of a new advisory board is an important next step in that. That will be a board that will bring together those who have achievements like the ones that you've listed, as well as those who oftentimes have not been at the heart of conversations of how philanthropy can build upon the work of public goods and public dollars. What I will say is we've already seen in just seven months multi-million-dollar contributions to the Mayor's Fund, specifically, as you said, with the goal of delivering universal childcare in mind.
Question: Are you concerned about offending or limiting people's contributions in the future because you've removed everyone on this board? Is there a way you'll try to keep those people involved?
Mayor Mamdani: I think we always want everyone who is interested in the future of our city to know that there's a place for them in the conversation around that. And as we create a new board, it's not to say that the old board doesn't still have a place in helping us think about what can come next.
Question: I wanted to ask you about a tragedy that happened over the weekend in the Bronx. A mother and a grandmother were arrested for allegedly starving an autistic 16-year-old boy to death in their care. The Administration for Children's Services had closed a case into this family about two years prior to his passing, and the mom had also pulled him out of New York City Public School two months before. So, my question is, are you going to be calling for a probe into ACS's role in this case? And do you have any information about how this slipped through the cracks, especially since he was pulled out of public school?
Mayor Mamdani: So, I know that this has been a focus for ACS and for our commissioner, and I'm also deeply appreciative of their efforts when it comes to the brother of the young man who was killed and ensuring his safety in this time. Our focus primarily is on that question of safety, but it is a conversation that continues internally.
Question: I wanted to get an update from you on where things stand with the bill that the Council passed recently to give one-time payments to the paraprofessionals. The UFT president recently said that he would wage an all-out war if you didn't back the bonuses. Can you give a sense of where you're at, if you're planning to veto the legislation, or what's next on that?
Mayor Mamdani: I think, first and foremost, the paraprofessionals in our New York City Public School system do incredible and critical work, and it's work that should be appreciated and recognized when we're talking about what makes it possible for families to live in this city. I also believe that conversations around compensation are better left at the bargaining table, and what has been told to me in terms of a legal analysis of this bill is that it is a violation of the Taylor Law. And that continues to be the assessment that I am privy to.
Question: I was out with sanitation officials this morning putting these stickers on cars that don't move for alternate side parking. This was done away with in 2012. It's back now. Gale Brewer was out sticking these stickers on cars. What do you think of this? It's an effort to get people to actually move their cars.
Mayor Mamdani: I think that it's critically important that the sanitation department be able to conduct street cleaning. And whenever I've seen the hardworking men and women of DSNY, the question is always, how can we make their jobs easier? If this does that, then it's something that I support.
Question: There's a suite of bills being introduced or announced today in the City Council cracking down on e-bikes and motorized scooters. Julie Menin's announcing that in a couple minutes, I think. It's a whole list of things that would crack down on faster e-bikes that are currently legal. I won't go through the whole list, but I'm curious if you've talked with the Council or Speaker Menin about those proposals and if you stand anywhere on whether these kinds of modes of transportation should be further regulated.
Mayor Mamdani: I'll wait to see the specifics of these proposals themselves. What I will say is having spoken to the mother of the young man who was killed while riding on an illegal e-bike, my heart just breaks for her and for all the families who've had their children stolen from them as a result of this. And as I and others have made clear, that bike is one that should never have been on our streets. And it is critically important that safety is something that each and every New Yorker has, no matter what mode of transportation they use. And that continues to be a focus for us — is how can we ensure that's the case as well.
Question: Are there legal modes or sort of uses that you think shouldn't be legal?
Mayor Mamdani: I think my first focus, frankly, is that which is already illegal, how to ensure that no consumer is duped into believing that that is an appropriate way to be moving around the city, because it is hard for New Yorkers to keep up with what is legal or illegal if they're able to buy it online, and our work is how to insure that each of those New Yorker knows this is something that's permitted, this is not, and the reason it's not is because it's not safe.
Question: I just wondered if you had any updates on the sheriff and his legal bills, whether the City is going to pay them. And then also a question for your new sheriff, Sheriff Raymond. Do you want to see him crack down on merchants selling weed without licenses in the city in the same way that Miranda did?
Mayor Mamdani: I want to see our new sheriff uphold that office in a manner that also inspires the trust of New Yorkers across the five boroughs. And I think what is truly inspiring about his journey is that it has been one of trying to create a bridge of trust between law enforcement and those that it serves. And especially in a moment like we are in today where so many Haitian New Yorkers are living in a permanent state of anxiety given the question of TPS, I am proud that we are seeing in his appointment the first appointment of a Haitian American to a top law enforcement position. I do apologize; I have to get back to you on your first question about the question of legal fees.
Question: Yes or no on the raids? Are the raids going to continue, do you think?
Mayor Mamdani: I think we're going to see a different direction when it comes to the kind of leadership that this new sheriff is going to bring.
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