Ayan Wilson, Founder, Everyone's Daycare: Good morning, everyone. I like that. Good morning, everyone — one more time, I always wanted to say that. So, my name is Ayan Wilson. I'm an early childcare educator in a residential setting. First, I want to recognize Estella B. Diggs Democratic Club. I want to recognize ECE on the Move.
[Crosstalk.]
I want to recognize Providers Organized for Power, better known as POP. And every single person that continued to stand for early childhood educators and the families we serve.
Today is extremely personal for me. For years, childhood educators have been asking for a seat at the table. We have been asking not merely to be invited into a room, but also genuinely be heard. And today, look around. I invite you to look around; an early childhood educator in a residential setting such as myself standing with the mayor.
So, asking for a seat at the table, we have been asking not merely to be invited to a room, but genuinely be heard. And today, an early childhood educator in a residential setting. So, I want you guys to think about that. And I do not remember seeing — I don't remember seeing this from other administrations, have you? I have not. This is what having a seat at the table looks like; this is what being heard looks like. And while we still have important work ahead of us, we should never be afraid to acknowledge progress when we see it.
I brought concerns about CCAP directly to this administration. Concerns that we've been crying about and screaming about for a very long time. And something happened that has not happened before. Not only did they listen, but they did something about it. So, we begin to see movement where movement has never been. And no, everything is not fixed, absolutely not. We still have ways to go. But there is a difference when we are being heard, and being heard matters because that is where change begins.
I especially want to acknowledge the mayor's office team — his incredible team — and the people I call day and night about childhood issues. And I'm going to keep calling you, Emmy Liss, Nick and Yvonne. And you guys are always going to pick up, because that's just who you are.
Because, believe it or not, guys, we are the first line of defense for families. We are essential to the city. Childcare is not a red or blue issue; it is an American issue. No matter your political affiliations or how much money you make in this city, when you have children, you think about two things: The cost and the availability of childcare.
We still have to work; we will continue to organize; we will continue to advocate. And we will continue to push for investments for CCAP — Childcare Assistance Program — [that] families and educators desperately need.
But today, I am grateful. I'm grateful that our voices are being heard. I'm grateful that we're seeing movement on issues that we've raised time and time again. And I'm hopeful that the next promise kept will be real and substantial investment into CCAP.
And now it is my honor, my absolute honor, to introduce a leader whose administration has opened doors in early childhood — for early childhood educators, doors that we've been knocking for years. Mayor Mamdani, we are grateful for your leadership. We appreciate your partnership, and we look forward to continuing this important work with you. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in giving a warm, passionate welcome to the mayor of the City of New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Good morning, everyone. It is such a pleasure to be here today alongside so many parents, so many providers, so many advocates who, as we've just heard, have long called for change. Those whose tireless work to make childcare free for all has brought us together today.
And it is a privilege as well to do so at BronxWorks, an organization that not only runs high-quality childcare centers, but is a key partner to our city in the work to help families here in the Bronx apply for and receive childcare vouchers.
I want to acknowledge we have a number of leaders both inside and outside of our administration who are here with me today. We have our ACS commissioner, Rebecca Jones Gaston. We have our deputy chancellor for Early Education, Erica Phillips. Our ACS deputy commissioner, Elizabeth Wolkomir. We have the person that you call all the time and I call all the time, the mayor's office of childcare executive director, Emmy Liss. We have a person that when you say the Bronx three times, she appears, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson. We have the chair of the Children and Youth Committee in City Council, Council Member Althea Stevens. Young people, young people, young people always.
We have the chair of the Early Childhood Education Committee of the City Council, Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez, one of the foremost champions for childcare at the City Council. We have my former roommate and State Sen. Jabari Brisport, chair of the Committee on Children and Families. We have someone who has fought long and hard for this day, Council Member Lincoln Restler, who is here with us. Sen. Luis Sepúlveda, who's here with us; Assembly Member Landon Dais, who is here with us — both of whom [are] welcoming us to their districts. We have Assemblywoman now and soon to be Sen. Jessica González-Rojas. Councilwoman Julie Won. We also have Rabbi Moishe Indig, who is here with us. We have UJO Associate Director David Katz, who is here with us.
Now I want to name a few other names: Cardi B, Richard Avedon, Al Pacino. The woman who inspired countless New Yorkers to pursue their dreams, to build an empire, to make music. A man who reshaped what a photograph could be and how far it could reach. And the actor who warned us in “Heat,” “Brother, you are going down.”
Three different visionaries, but one common thread: Three children of the Bronx. They each became great figures because they possessed that drive, that hunger, that ambition that lives deep in the heart of the city that we are proud to call our home. And each of them also spent time in this borough's public parks, in this borough's public schools. The foundation upon which they built that excellence was also laid in part by public goods and by public services.
And yet we know that those services were not inevitable. They had to be fought for. They had to be won. The state's childcare assistance program, an initiative that provides parents vouchers to help them afford childcare, is an example of one of those services.
For nearly three decades, the voucher program has helped give children in the Bronx and across our city a strong start in life, regardless of how much money their parents have in their pocket. But we can only serve the number of children that the funding allows. And in May of 2025, the number of children in need of vouchers exceeded the program's capacity. New families were placed on a waitlist — a waitlist that kept on growing.
Today, there are more than 29,000 children on that waitlist, with more being added by the day. Over the last few months, I have had the privilege of speaking with parents and childcare providers who have shared with me how much of a lifeline that program is. How painful it is for them or for their clients to be stuck on that waitlist with no end in sight.
And today, I am so proud to announce that there is light at the end of the voucher tunnel. For the first time in 15 months, New York City is taking children off the voucher waitlist, and this is only the beginning. We will continue to do so on a rolling basis.
And I am deeply grateful for the leadership and support of Gov. Kathy Hochul, whose $1.2 billion investment in our city's historic universal childcare program included $475 million to stabilize and expand the voucher program.
And I also just want to take a moment to commend City Council Member Lincoln Restler. Because I swear every time I see him, he has to say the word “voucher,” “waitlists,” “parents.” And it is that kind of relentless commitment, relentless drive that ensures that this kind of a topic is always at the heart of the conversation that's taking place in the halls of power. So, thank you to Lincoln and thank you to every other relentless advocate for this. Truly.
And that's the kind of work that is so critical in ensuring that today is possible. Because thanks to that work, thanks to every single person that is here, we are now able to deliver affordable childcare to thousands upon thousands of additional families who need it most.
And I have to be honest, when I say “affordable,” I might be misspeaking because what I mean to say is 100 percent free.
This past August, we announced a $5.2 million investment to cover the fees that families would otherwise have to pay out of pocket. That means that every family currently in the program and every family coming off the waitlist will not have to worry about whether or not they can afford the copays traditional to the voucher program.
And for families trying to find childcare providers that participate in the voucher program, our city's first ever childcare provider map at nyc.gov/childcare, one that we launched together a few months ago, has launched a new feature: a filter that will allow families to search for providers that accept vouchers, like many of the high-quality home-based providers who are with us here today.
Now expanding our voucher program is just our latest effort to make childcare a truly universal public good here in our city. And I know that there are cynics out there who reject our efforts to deem universal childcare a public good; those who might label this kind of an initiative as idealistic or radical or naive.
And yet we also know that that same cynicism was once applied to public schools. It was once applied to public parks, to subways, to libraries, to sewers, to trash collection, even to streetlamps. The marker of progress, my friends, is expanding both what is promised and to whom it is promised.
Bringing New York City closer to a future where every New Yorker can access universal childcare is about more than just lifting a financial burden from New Yorkers' shoulders. It's about building a city where the people know they can demand more from their government and one where their government delivers more in kind.
Thirty years from now, when our city is dancing to a beat we cannot imagine or taking in art more creative than anything we've ever seen, it will be in no small part because the children of this city had the support and the public goods they needed to succeed. The parks in which they could play, the public transit they could ride to visit new worlds, and the universal childcare they could rely upon to learn, to grow, to become themselves.
And while we may have some more gray hair then, we will know that progress was made, that greatness was made possible because of a program like this one. Because government provided its people with the foundation to succeed.
And because, and I say this specifically to all of the providers and the advocates, because you were willing to believe once again that something different could happen. Because I know that every time you sat down with me, you sat down with Emmy, you sat down with Nick, you sat down with Yvonne, you sat down saying the same things you've told people in power for years; the same things that you have grown tired in having to testify about.
And yet you believed that this time something could be different. And if you didn't make that choice, we couldn't make this one. So, thank you for continuing to believe, thank you for continuing to fight. Thank you for making today possible.
And with that being said, I'm going to say the Bronx, the Bronx, the Bronx. And here she is, the Bronx borough president, Vanessa Gibson.
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Bienvenidos a todos. Welcome. Welcome to this exciting announcement in the great borough of the Bronx. I am excited to be here with all of you as the Bronx borough president. When the mayor says my name three times, I show up.
Let me first begin by acknowledging the BronxWorks staff: Executive Director Eileen Torres, to John Wee, to Gianna, to Julie Spitzer. BronxWorks is family. For over 50 years, this great not-for-profit has been serving the children and families of the Bronx.
And I remember a few years ago, we opened the first Early Childhood Center right here at the Carolyn McLaughlin Community Center, which is where we are today. So, it is truly an honor to be here with our mayor, Zohran Mamdani, and his entire team.
Thank you to the team at ACS; to our commissioner, Rebecca Jones Gaston; to Executive Director Emmy Liss and all of our city officials; to all of my colleagues in government who are here; and to all our early childcare providers, home care providers, advocates, educators, teachers, social workers — the entire village that it takes to raise our babies.
Did you see the cute babies of BronxWorks? The energy, the excitement — and to all of our parents, this is for you — recognizing that we are the light at the end of the voucher tunnel.
Thank you, because today's announcement marks an incredible and a significant step forward in ensuring that access to high-quality childcare for hundreds of families here in the Bronx and across our city. Too often, financial barriers and bureaucratic red tape stand in the way of our youngest constituents, our babies, receiving the highest quality of care that they deserve — the support and the opportunities that we truly know are needed for them to excel.
Today's announcement, as the mayor said — which is also supported by our New York state Gov. Kathy Hochul — recognizes that this will ease the burden, a burden that too many families are facing today here in the Bronx and across New York City, providing a greater opportunity, a real peace of mind, for working-class families as they work to create brighter futures for their children. I am grateful that our mayor, this mayor, has prioritized this issue during his first term and continues to prioritize working-class families across our city. Gracias, Alcalde.
Now, we know that as the cost of living continues to skyrocket and wages remain stagnant, many of our families today are struggling to make ends meet. And the cost of childcare can leave many families financially destitute or force them to make a choice — hard choices between working, earning a living and caring for their families. That should never be the case for any resident, any family in a city like New York, and I am proud to say that that will soon not be the case for nearly 10,000 of our working-class families and their children.
Today is a great day. And I'm so grateful that we have all of our advocates here who have long been championing this issue to make sure that childcare universally goes across the five boroughs in this city.
So, ladies and gentlemen, damas y caballeros, as we continue to work and support this administration and make sure that we are all held accountable, providing more access and opportunity, understand that this is also an issue of equity and justice, right?
So, I look forward to working together with our mayor and ACS and all of our administration in supporting our youth, our youngest of babies, who are the cutest, in supporting families right here in the Bronx and across the city to make universal childcare a reality for all of our families across the great city.
Mayor Mamdani: And now we are going to go from the Bronx to Brooklyn. Please join me in welcoming City Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez.
City Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez: Brooklyn by way of Queens. So, shout-out to both boroughs. Thank you, Mayor Mamdani. Thank you to BronxWorks for inviting me. This is my first time here, not the last.
I want to be honest, it has been an absolute joy having Mayor Mamdani in office. Hasn't it been? I think someone that has stuck to their word about the value of universal childcare, to uplifting working families, to uplifting workers — it is a sigh of relief. And I'm just so grateful that we get to make these announcements together.
And of course, I obviously want to highlight Gov. Hochul for her commitment as well. I see the yellow ECE on the Move. Shout-out to all of y'all. And I don't get nearly as much calls as Emmy, so let's clap it up for Emmy one more time. She's also a mom, guys.
But in all honesty, we know that these vouchers are, yes, a lifeline — are, yes, the ability for a parent to go to work — for a parent with more than one child to be able to rely on these vouchers. We have so many folks here who we've met with personally who have shared that with us. We are just so grateful that we're able to provide that and to be able to really remind New Yorkers that they can trust government, that we have your back, and that when we say universal childcare, we absolutely mean it.
A couple of weeks ago, Sen. Brisport and I mentioned that we don't see each other as much anymore as the sponsors for universal childcare bill because we figured it out. Clearly, it's on its way. But in all honesty, I think standing behind the families and the providers who have testified at City Hall over and over again to remind us that the thousands and thousands and thousands of families on waiting lists are just as needy and that they need this service. And the providers who came to City Hall to testify on behalf of those families, who do this job for not nearly enough, but for the love of early childhood education.
This is really a victory for you all. And I'm so excited to see how we continue to roll this program out. And thank you once again to our awesome mayor.
Mayor Mamdani: Thank you, Council Member. You have been a real partner in this work. And I think what was so exciting is that we know this work is one that has to be done every single day. It's not just in announcements; it's not in the first day of school; it's every day. And you've been a partner for every day of that, truly.
And now, you know, when you go to Brooklyn, you gotta come back to the Bronx. And if we're gonna talk about young people, there's only one person to talk about it. So please join me in welcoming City Council Member Althea Stevens.
City Council Member Althea Stevens: It's a good day to be in the Bronx and in the Sweet 16, so welcome to the district. It's a beautiful day and, honestly, one of the things I will give a special shout-out to the mayor: he loves to come here and make good announcements. So, let's keep coming back so you can keep making announcements and really delivering for the people.
And I'm just so happy that I continue to be associated with fighting and being on the front line for young people. Because that's what this is really about. If we're not building a foundation for our young people, what are we doing?
And so, I am honored that every space I go to, they'll be like, “She’s gonna talk about young people.” But I'm the proud chair of the Committee on Children and Youth.
I wanted to begin by saying I'm happy to see our city working diligently to address the needs of children and families and making sure that the childcare system program is happening. So, I want to say again, this is a check off the list and something I don't have to yell about. So, let's give it up for that. It's true. I know I'm going to go in.
For too long, families have been waiting for the support that they need to access safe and reliable and affordable childcare. We know that when parents have access to childcare, they have greater stability for work, greater stability for homes, and more opportunity that provides for their children.
Today's announcement is an important step for thousands of families of knowing that they have the opportunity to receive childcare vouchers, and it means thousands of parents can breathe a little easier knowing that their children have a reliable, safe space to be. But our work does not end here. As the chair of Children and Youth, I believe that we have a responsibility to continue listening to families, monitoring how these vouchers are being distributed, and making sure we are reaching the children who need it most.
When we see the waitlist grow to approximately 29,000 low-income children — while those children already have access to other forms of childcare — we know that families are still waiting. We cannot lose sight of that in them.
I'm encouraged by the city's commitment to bring families together and move families off this waiting list. I believe that the city and the state advocates, the elected officials, have worked together, and we created meaningful solutions.
And I want to say this has been a labor of love for everyone from the city to the state. Everyone has been working tirelessly together. And this is what it looks like when we come together and work together.
So, give it up to the electeds because we're not getting enough credit for how this coalition has been built. Everyone got to work when we heard about this. And this is what it looks like. Everyone did their part, and everyone has contributed. But we must continue to work together. We must continue investment and we must continue to demand and make sure that the resources continue to meet our needs.
We have the opportunity to build on our progress and make sure our eligible families who need assistance have assistance and a pathway to receive that. Thank you, guys, so much, and [I’m] so excited, and [it’s] a good day for childcare.
Mayor Mamdani: And now we are going to bring up the one and only State Sen. Jabari Brisport.
New York State Sen. Jabari Brisport: Good morning, BronxWorks. I'm New York State Sen. Jabari Brisport, chair of the Children and Families Committee in the New York State Senate. I am a Brooklyn boy through and through, but today the Bronx is leading the way, baby.
Now, I remember when this waitlist issue started and was triggered. You know, about two years ago, in the 2024 state budget, we increased the eligibility and made more parents eligible for CCAP. And it was good. And we were proud. We increased the amount of money per child in the CCAP. And it was good. And we're proud.
But one thing we could not win in that budget was enough funding to meet the increased demand. And a year later, by spring of 2025, we had seen wait lists popping up across the state. Hundreds of youth here, hundreds of youth there, and in New York City, the epicenter, thousands of children, thousands of families being told they were eligible for this program, a voucher for their child, but that there was no space or no money for the thing that had been promised to them.
By this year, it had reached tens of thousands. And you heard the mayor: 29,000 people on the waitlist. And so many people have been fighting for this. It has taken parents rising up and demanding the funding for this program. It has taken providers fighting for the program. It has taken advocacy groups.
I want to shout out to the Empire State Campaign for Childcare. I want to shout out AQE, the Alliance for Quality Education; ECE, Early Childhood Educators on the Move. It has taken community leaders. It has taken elected officials. And we got lucky this year; in 2026, we also got a mayor who believes in the power of early childhood education.
And so now, for 10,000 children, the parents of 10,000 children, we can tell them: you don't have to wait any longer. Childcare is coming to you. And I am confident as we all stand, arm in arm, hand in hand, fighting together for the rest of the funding, we are getting the rest of those youth off that childcare waiting list. And we are guaranteeing free childcare to every family in New York City and the state of New York. Thank you so much.
Mayor Mamdani: You know, I want to just give Jabari his flowers for a moment. I used to be an assembly member. I would serve in Albany, and Jabari was my roommate. No matter what time of day it was, the day would not be over unless he was talking to someone somewhere about universal childcare. And years and years of pushing this forward — And what I said earlier, it really does extend to Jabari, which is that all of you having fought for so long is what allows us to make a choice. Without that work, we don't have a choice to even make. So, thank you to all of you, to Jabari, to everyone.
And if we're going to speak about relentless advocacy, you know I have to go back down to Brooklyn and bring up City Council Member Lincoln Restler.
Council Member Lincoln Restler: You know, our good senator was just talking about the budget from a year and a half ago. And I want to take you back to it.
This is such a joyful day, but I want to take you back to a dire moment. Back in March of 2024, just a year and a half ago, we realized that there was no money in the state budget to actually protect vouchers for every family who had them. The state of New York was about to kick tens of thousands of kids out of the voucher system.
Jen, Althea and I, we started to mobilize in the City Council. We built an extraordinary coalition; 50 council members signed on in support. As Althea said, everybody supported. A hundred state elected officials at the end of a budget process stepped in and fought with amazing advocates. And we secured $700 million in city and state funding to protect every single child who had a voucher.
And thanks to this man's extraordinary campaign and the governor's generosity, this state budget was very different. $1.2 billion in new funding for childcare. 3-K became actually universal. 2-K became a reality. Childcare vouchers were protected, but the waiting list kept growing: 29,000 kids today.
Jen and I, we tour childcare centers in Williamsburg together all the time, and the childcare directors are telling us we can't accept new kids because they don't have a voucher. They can't pay. We're going to have to shut these centers down if the city and the state don't find a way to help.
But the mayor made clear on his campaign: the affordability crisis, it's about housing and it's childcare. The number one demographic of people who are leaving our city, it's young families who just can't afford the second rent that childcare has become.
And so, the mayor and his team have stepped up in truly an extraordinary way today. By helping over 10,000 kids gain new access to childcare, we are adding something that's the equivalent of the whole UPK program in Washington, D.C. Like that.
There are families who will stay in New York City for generations because of this investment today. There are young kids who will get the head start that they deserve because of this investment today. There are childcare providers who are struggling to get by, who will keep their doors open, who will serve and love and care for thousands of New York City children because of this investment today.
So, I really want to thank the mayor's team. Emmy and Elizabeth in particular have been really terrific partners. They care so much. They are the ones that figured out a way to make this work. And they did it because they had a mayor who really cares.
And so, we are lucky New Yorkers to have somebody who has our back, who is looking out for all of us, looking out for our families, and looking out for that next generation. Congratulations to everybody who made today possible. Thank you so much.
Mayor Mamdani: We got to come back to the Bronx. Sen. Luis Sepúlveda.
New York State Senator Luis Sepúlveda: Actually, let me correct the mayor. I was born in the south side of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and migrated to the Bronx 40 years ago, and I love being here. I wanna first begin by thanking Mayor Mamdani for this program. When he ran for the mayorship, one of the things that he said was that he would help the neediest families in New York City, and I dare say that he's kept that promise, and he deserves a lot of credit for that work.
I also want to thank the governor for helping us provide the funding for this program. Today's announcement reflects the mayor's effort to turn a commitment into meaningful support for thousands of families across New York City. I remind everyone that you are now in the 32nd Senatorial District, my house, our house. Welcome, everyone. But it's also the poorest senatorial district in the entire State of New York, probably one of the poorest in the country.
This is a — I want to give a big recognition to ACS, our childcare providers and advocates here today and my colleagues in government who continue to work on behalf of New York families, and a big shout out to BronxWorks, who I know does fantastic work in this community for so many years. Thank you, BronxWorks.
Expanding childcare vouchers and moving more than 10,000 children off of the waiting list represents meaningful relief for thousands of families across New York City, including hardworking families that live in this district. I'm proud to represent it.
Behind every child waiting for childcare is a family trying to make it work. Parents need to go to work, pursue their education and provide for their families. They should be able to do so knowing that their children are safe and receiving quality care.
In this district and beyond, I personally see how the cost of childcare affects working households. Families should not have to choose between going to work and having a safe place for their children or between paying for childcare and meeting their basic needs.
Affordable, high-quality childcare is not only an investment in our children; it's an investment in the economic security of our families and the future of New York.
Today is an important step forward. I look forward to continuing to work alongside my colleagues at the state and city levels to make childcare more accessible and affordable for every family.
Quiero darle las gracias al alcalde Mamdani. Durante su campaña, dijo que iba a llevar a las familias más necesitadas que existe en la ciudad de Nueva York. Y él ha cumplido con esa promesa. Se merece mucho crédito.
También quiero dar las gracias a la Gobernadora Hochul por ayudar a proveer los fondos que van a permitir que más de 10,000 familias, más de 1,000 niños podrán tener cuidado de niños de alta calidad aquí en la ciudad de Nueva York.
Este distrito senatorial, 32, es el distrito más pobre en el estado de Nueva York. Y personalmente yo sé que esto va a ayudar a muchas familias. Que esto va a permitir que las madres y los padres de estos niños que van a tener acceso ahora a este programa puedan sentirse más seguros cuando dejan a sus niños con las personas que los cuiden.
Así que muchas gracias, Alcalde Mamdani. And I know he knows Spanish because he learned a lot of it during his campaign. Y quiero darle las gracias a la gobernadora porque este programa va a tener tremendo impacto en esta comunidad. Muchas gracias.
Mayor Mamdani: Senator, all I can say in response to that is, ¡Claro que sí! And now, to close us out, the Assembly member himself was welcoming us here to this district. Assembly Member Landon Dais.
Assembly Member Landon Dais: Good morning, welcome to the district. I don't know about you, but when you saw those beautiful children that walked across the stage, those are the children of my district. And I'll be honest, if I don't say it made me think of Whitney Houston, “the children are our future.” But it also brought me back to two months ago when the borough president, Althea and the senator, Sepúlveda and myself were here giving a $7.5 million capital grant to BronxWorks because we realized what they are in our district and what they do for our children.
But more so as a father of two, a youth baseball coach in the community, someone who started an organization called "Brunch of Dads." I understand the importance of childcare. As a husband whose wife is the head of the childcare fund for 1199, I've seen firsthand what childcare givers do every day. You deserve more money because of the work you do for our children.
What we realize here — but this is 10,000 opportunities for our kids to have a better education as they get to develop at a younger age. That is 80,000 hours a day which a family can now go to work, go shopping, go to a doctor. That is over 3 million hours a month that they get servicing. That's a hundred — I'm sorry — eight million. That's 104 million hours a year that we are providing a lifeline to these families.
We are simply just trying to allow families a little bit more grace, a little more time to do what they have to do. No longer should a mother or father have to decide between going to a job interview or taking care of their children. No longer have to make a decision: should they go to the doctor to take care of their own mental health or make sure they can be with their child.
We are just simply trying to give a lifeline to the families across New York and that's what they deserve because they give so much to New York. And I do believe in a long stretch. Right here in my district, we also have a family court. I often believe that this program right here, and the long aggregate of it, will stop many of our children going into the system there because instead they're going to have childcare providers giving them the future that they deserve.
And so, as we close it out, it's just very simple, guys. We have to continue working for the future. We have to continue pushing for the young people in our community because they are going to make New York where they can be. And we're simply just trying to give them the opportunity to grow into the roses out of concrete that they can't be.
Thank you for coming to the district. And even all these Brooklyn people came here. My mom is from Brooklyn, so I have to let that slide. And we also gotta shout out Queens in the building also. But thank you for the 77, Mr. Mayor. As always, thank you, sir.
Question: I have a question about the timing for this. The governor announced the funding for this in January. Can you speak to why it took so long to get this done, given that parents have been waiting for months without relief?
Mayor Mamdani: Absolutely. So, we received our state budget allocation this summer and then needed to review the entirety of that allocation. In addition, we wanted to do a review of uptake rates for families receiving these vouchers, as well as attrition for families that are currently receiving care.
And those things together, it is all motivated by a desire that once we offer a voucher to a family, that we are confident in our ability to continue to give them that care. We do not want to celebrate something on Monday and then announce on Friday, actually, there's been an issue that they should need to be aware of.
And so, all of this is taking the time to make sure we're doing things right, doing it with a coalition that spans from city to state to federal elected officials and advocates at every level. It allows us to get to this point where now 10,000 children will be taken off this wait list.
Question: In regards to continuing care, I'm wondering if 10,000 families are coming off of this list, who's supposed to be absorbing all of these children? What does that look like? Because obviously, many of these centers struggle with that, creating more spaces, obviously.
Mayor Mamdani: You know, one thing I want to shout out is when we had those conversations with childcare providers, with advocates, what they laid out is how heartbreaking it also is for them to look at families that they know need those kinds of services but are prevented from utilizing them because of that voucher. The absence of that, that voucher, affects those families. It also affects those childcare providers. So, Emmy, if you want to just add something.
Emmy Liss, Executive Director, Office of Child Care and Early Childhood Education: We know there are thousands of childcare providers in communities like the one where we're standing today, and many of the providers who are here with us who have vacancies, as the mayor said, because they cannot afford to pay out of pocket for care, but they've been on the wait list. So many of those providers [are] just as excited as the families with this news to be able to welcome families into their programs.
Question: One question for you.
Mayor Mamdani: Hit me.
Question: You've called on the federal government to put safeguards in place for AI. [The] City Council has put forward a slate of proposals that aims to regulate AI. Do you believe that this is an appropriate role for the city to play, and is that a role that you intend to leave to the City Council, or will your administration take a proactive role in shaping that policy as well?
Mayor Mamdani: I think it is incumbent upon all of us to play a role in responding to what is one of the most important questions of our time, which is artificial intelligence, the response to it, the regulation of it. And I think that it is right that City Council is having a hearing on this. I look forward to reviewing the proposals that they put forward.
I also think it's critical that we in City government continue to lead as well. Recently, we put forward a nation-leading moratorium on generative AI for students in the ages of 2-K through eighth grade, with limited use for students in high school.
We've also seen our DCWP; we've led with the creation of restrictions on the use of AI to advertise apartment listings. A lot of New Yorkers are unsure when they open up a listing, whether it's real or whether it has been generated by artificial intelligence.
And we're also in the process of developing a new rule that mandates that after a certain amount of interaction with a chatbot, that you have to be connected with an actual human individual that can respond to your question, so you're not stuck in the kind of doom loop that so many New Yorkers are right now.
Question: I wanted to follow up as well. When it comes to artificial intelligence, I wanted to ask, do you use AI in your regular life? What does that look like if it plays a role for you? And then also, I wanted to ask, do you believe that AI is an existential crisis, either for the city or for humanity, as many people have put it? And my final question, could you elaborate on the Civil Service Task Force that has been reported out today?
Mayor Mamdani: Yes, so I think a few things first. I'll just start with your last question, then I'll go into AI. You know, the focus for us is how do we make it as easy as possible for New Yorkers to both understand what civil service jobs are available and how they can apply for them.
And so, this builds on the work that we did with opening up 2 Lafayette as a walk-in center for anyone who's interested in applying to a public sector job. They can come in from Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. And we want to demystify this process. We also want to make New York City lead by example when it comes to being an employer in our city. And these are some of the steps that are required to do so.
Kelly, to your other questions about artificial intelligence. You know, I don't use much AI in my day-to-day life. However, like most New Yorkers, whenever I use any kind of a popular search engine, AI has now become imbued in part of the results that are being generated.
So, if you're using Google, if you using DuckDuckGo, it seems to be built into the system itself. And when it comes to how I think of artificial intelligence, you have some of the leaders of the creation of this technology saying that there's a 10 percent chance that humanity could come to an end as a result of this.
I think when that kind of language is par for the course, when companies are asserting that each of them has faced something similar to the Hugging Face incident. It does demand a level of response that goes beyond just the political topic of the day. It does raise itself to understanding artificial intelligence as one of the most consequential technological shifts in the last few generations of the world.
Question: So, following up on AI, can you talk a little bit more about whether you support regulating the technology on the local level, and can you kind of weigh in on the Council bills? One of the bills that Speaker Menin is proposing would require a kill switch function in any AI system deployed by the city. If you could talk a bit more about your thoughts on those bills.
Mayor Mamdani: So, I'm looking forward to reviewing all the legislation that's been put forward by the Council. And once we do so, I'll be sure to share. And Madina, could you say the first part of your question again?
Question: Whether you support regulation technology on the local level —
Mayor Mamdani: I think that there has to be regulation of this technology at every single level. And I think we're talking about a technology that affects our nation as a whole. This is not a New York City-specific question. And therefore, I think the place where we need the most urgent response to this is at the national level.
And I do think that the consistent framing of AI in the context of being in an arms race with China loses sight of the fact that this will have an impact on New Yorkers at every level of their lives as well as Americans, frankly, and it already is because we're seeing what impact it's starting to have on the job market, as well [as] what impact it is starting to have on how people relate to the world around them, and that to me is of immense importance and I'm excited to see what kind of legislation comes out of it. Thank you.
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