New York City parents could soon have access to free childcare for two-year-old children following a joint announcement made by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul on Thursday (8 January).
The initiative, dubbed “2-Care,” would be fully funded by the state for its first two years, drawing on existing revenue rather than tax increases, the Governor's office said.
The programme will begin in high-need neighbourhoods selected by the city this autumn and then expand more than several years to cover all families across the city, potentially serving around 2,000 children initially.
“This victory represents much more than a triumph of city and state government working in partnership,” Zohran Mamdani said during the press conference at the NYPD Headquarters in Brooklyn, New York City.
For Mamdani, who was sworn in as mayor just a week earlier, on 1 January, the announcement marked a significant step toward fulfilling a key campaign promise focused on affordability.
State officials noted that New York has already significantly increased investment in childcare infrastructure in recent years, including more than $8.6 billion in subsidies and support, while increasing eligibility and reducing out-of-pocket costs for many families.
Advocates welcomed the initiative as an “historic step” toward lowering living costs for families and expanding early childhood education.
The Fiscal Policy Institute said the announcement could expand access to childcare and reduce pressures that have led many families to leave the state due to high costs, though it emphasised the need for stable, long-term funding to sustain the programme beyond initial state support.
This fits the overall theme of Zohran Mamdani's mayoral election campaign ran on a broad affordability and social reform platform aimed at addressing long‑standing cost‑of‑living pressures in New York City.
Campaign promises
Mamdani promised to expand universal childcare for children from six weeks up to five years old, arguing that high childcare costs were driving families out of the city and hindering workforce participation.
His platform included proposals for municipally owned grocery stores to lower food costs, strengthening tenant protections, and creating a Department of Community Safety to address violence through preventative and public‑health‑oriented programmes.
To pay for these initiatives, Mamdani suggested raising taxes on the wealthiest residents and corporations, including a hike in the top corporate tax rate and additional taxes on individuals earning above $1 million annually.
His agenda also included progressive labour goals such as championing a $30 minimum wage by 2030 and reforms to support immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities.
Election response
Zohran Mamdani’s election as New York City mayor has generated widespread attention and mixed reactions across the United States and internationally.
Nationally, progressive Democrats celebrated the result as a sign of generational change and a new direction for the party, describing his victory as a boost for grassroots mobilisation and policy innovation.
Conversely, conservative commentators and political rivals criticised his socialist-leaning agenda, with U.S. President Donald Trump calling it “a little bit radical” and some outlets labelling his win a “socialist shockwave”.
However, Zohran Mamdani’s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on 21 November 2025 drew widespread attention and reshaped perceptions of the mayor-elect across the political spectrum.
Mamdani described the encounter as “productive and focused on the shared purpose we have of serving New Yorkers.”
Trump praised Mamdani’s potential. “I feel very confident that he can do a very good job. I think he is going to surprise some conservative people, actually.”
“I think you’re going to have, hopefully, a really great mayor… I expect to be helping him, not hurting him,” Trump added.
Observers noted that the meeting softened Mamdani’s image beyond his progressive base, presenting him as a pragmatic leader willing to engage constructively across ideological divides, and prompted some conservatives to reconsider their assessment of his governing style according to experts.
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