Hochul and Mamdani launch phased free child care plan for two-year-olds in New York City

New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday unveiled a plan to provide free child care for two-year-olds in the city.

The initiative, announced at an event in Brooklyn, marks the launch of a phased programme aimed at easing costs for families while laying groundwork for universal child care statewide.

The proposal introduces a new scheme known as “2-Care”. According to the governor’s office, the programme will begin in selected high-need neighbourhoods before expanding across the city over several years.

Mamdani said the first phase is expected to serve around 2,000 children from autumn 2026. However, specific sites for the initial placements have not yet been confirmed.

State officials described the programme as an extension of New York City’s existing free pre-K and 3-K offerings. Those schemes already provide no-cost early education for four- and three-year-olds.

Hochul said the state will fully fund the first two years of the 2-Care programme. She added that the initial investment would be drawn from existing state revenues rather than new taxes.

However, the governor acknowledged that long-term costs would be harder to forecast as the programme expands. “As we scale up, those projections naturally become more complex,” she said, according to the state press release.

Hochul said the state expects to invest US$1.7 billion in the near term for child care and early education initiatives announced on Thursday.

This would bring proposed state spending on child care and pre-K programmes to US$4.5 billion in the coming fiscal year, according to official figures.

The governor said the proposals will be included in her upcoming State of the State address. They will also form part of her executive budget, which will be negotiated with state lawmakers in the months ahead.

Beyond the 2-Care programme, Hochul reiterated her aim of achieving universal pre-K for four-year-olds statewide by the start of the 2028–2029 school year.

Under the plan, the state will fund additional pre-K seats and increase support for existing ones. Per-pupil funding would rise to at least US$10,000, according to the press release.

Officials also said child care subsidies would be expanded. The measures could provide affordable child care to nearly 100,000 additional children across New York State.

The announcement represented an early political milestone for Mamdani, who was sworn in as mayor a week earlier. Affordable child care was a central theme of his election campaign.

Mamdani has pledged to provide free child care for children from six weeks to five years old. He said the new programme demonstrated that campaign commitments could translate into policy.

“To those who think that the promises of a campaign cannot survive once confronted with the realities of government, today is your answer,” Mamdani said.

Hochul, who is seeking re-election this year, has publicly aligned herself with the mayor on child care policy. She has not, however, endorsed all elements of his broader agenda.

When asked about Mamdani’s proposal to eliminate city bus fares, Hochul declined to comment in detail. “Well, we’re focused on this today,” she said.

Child care advocates welcomed the announcement, describing it as a significant step toward reducing financial pressure on families.

Rebecca Bailin, executive director of New Yorkers United for Child Care, called the initiative a “historic moment,”.

“By bringing together the Governor and Mayor around a shared commitment to child care, tens of thousands of families could finally get the relief they desperately need,” Bailin said.

Public reaction online was mixed but engaged. On the social media forum Reddit, users debated both the social benefits and long-term fiscal implications of the programme.

Some commenters cited experiences in other states, saying free or subsidised child care had helped vulnerable families achieve financial independence.

One user wrote that access to child care had enabled survivors of domestic abuse to leave violent households, arguing that high child care costs often trap victims in unsafe situations.

Others questioned how much additional public spending would be required as the programme expands. Several users asked how the state would sustain funding over the long term.

Supporters also praised the speed of the new mayor’s early policy actions. They described the announcement as evidence of closer cooperation between City Hall and state leaders on affordability.