Courtesy Governor and Mayors Office
Mamdani, Hochul Launch Free Child Care Program
By MOHAMED FARGHALY
Mfarghaly@queensledger.com
Just days after taking office on Jan. 1, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a far-reaching partnership to launch free child care for two-year-olds in New York City, fast-tracking one of Mamdani’s central campaign promises and signaling an unusually swift alignment between City Hall and Albany.
The initiative, part of a broader statewide push toward universal child care, will expand New York City’s early education system by introducing a new “2-Care” program while strengthening the existing 3K program to finally achieve universal access. Hochul committed the state to fully funding the first two years of the city’s rollout, with the program initially targeting high-need neighborhoods before expanding to all interested families citywide by its fourth year.
The announcement comes less than two weeks into Mamdani’s mayoralty and reflects an early effort by the new administration to translate campaign pledges into policy. Free child care was a centerpiece of Mamdani’s bid for office, framed as a necessary response to rising living costs and the financial strain facing working families across the city.
The city-state agreement is also a major component of Hochul’s latest plan to deliver affordable, universal child care for children under five across New York. Through a combination of universal Pre-K expansion, the launch of 2-Care in New York City, new community-based care pilots and expanded child care subsidies, the state estimates nearly 100,000 additional children will gain access to affordable care.
“There’s one thing that every family in New York can agree on, the cost of childcare is simply too high,” Hochul said. “As New York’s first mom Governor, fighting for New York’s families has always been at the core of my agenda. Since taking office, I’ve put families front and center, fighting to make our state more affordable and laying the groundwork to deliver universal childcare. Today, I’m proud to partner with Mayor Mamdani and leaders across our state to make this a reality, turning that foundation into a concrete roadmap that will transform the lives of working parents and kids across our state.”
Mamdani described the agreement as the culmination of a grassroots political movement and a demonstration of what coordinated government action can deliver. “Over the past 14 months, a movement was born to fight for a city where every New Yorker could afford a life of dignity and every family could afford to raise their kids. Today, Governor Hochul and I meet that movement as we celebrate our joint commitment to universal child care,” he said. “This victory represents much more than a triumph of city and state government working in partnership—it is proof that when New Yorkers come together, we can transform the way government serves working families.”
Beyond New York City, Hochul’s plan commits the state to making Pre-K truly universal. While four-year-olds in many districts already have access, dozens of school systems statewide still lack full programs. Under the proposal, all four-year-olds in New York will have access to Pre-K by the start of the 2028–29 school year.
To achieve that goal, the state will fund additional seats while also increasing support for existing programs, raising per-pupil funding to at least $10,000 or the district’s foundation aid level, whichever is higher. The combined investment is expected to total roughly half a billion dollars and is aimed at ensuring children enter kindergarten ready to learn.
Hochul’s announcement builds on years of increased state spending on child care. Since taking office, she has more than doubled the number of children served by child care vouchers, expanded eligibility by raising income thresholds, capped weekly costs at $15 for most families receiving subsidies and increased reimbursement rates for providers by nearly 50%. The state has also invested more than $150 million in capital funding to support the creation of thousands of new child care seats.
In New York City, the new 2-Care program is designed to extend the city’s early education system downward in age, complementing universal Pre-K and 3K. The state’s commitment to fund the first two years of implementation is intended to stabilize the program as the city builds capacity and enrollment. At the same time, Hochul and Mamdani said they will work together to address long-standing challenges within the 3K system to ensure it delivers on its promise of universal access.
The governor also announced plans to expand child care assistance statewide, with an additional $1.2 billion investment that will bring total spending on subsidies to more than $3 billion. That funding would support tens of thousands of additional families, most of whom would pay little or nothing out of pocket for care.
Outside of New York City, the state will pilot new community care models beginning in 2026, partnering with counties ready to move toward universal, full-day, year-round child care regardless of family income. Those programs will be developed jointly by local governments, child care coordinating entities and the state.
To oversee the sweeping changes, Hochul said the state will launch a new Office of Child Care and Early Education, tasked with coordinating universal Pre-K, 3K expansion, the rollout of 2-Care, subsidy programs and workforce development.
For Mamdani, the early announcement underscores an effort to demonstrate momentum at the start of his term. For Hochul, it reinforces a broader vision of universal child care as both an economic policy and a quality-of-life issue. Together, the two leaders framed the agreement as a turning point — and as proof that rapid city-state collaboration can deliver tangible results for families almost immediately after an election.
