OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
4:09 PM – Thursday, January 8, 2026
New York Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, have announced plans to provide affordable childcare for kids under 5-years-old across the state of New York and “free” childcare specifically for 2-year-olds in the Big Apple.
The “free” childcare will cost around $4.5 billion statewide, including $1.7 billion of additional taxpayer spending.
Although the newly elected NYC Mayor had campaigned on providing “free childcare for all children under five,” the plan now appears to be framed as a longer-term goal, rather than an immediate promise like most had assumed.
Mamdani’s platform vowed he would expand taxpayer-funded childcare so that children ages six weeks to five years could receive “free” care, with extra support like opening new childcare centers.
Nonetheless, Hochul (D-N.Y.) and Mamdani announced on Thursday that they are “working toward a future” where “affordable, universal childcare” is available for all children under age 5 across the entire state of New York by 2028.
The “2‑Care” program will reportedly work with home-based providers and build on NYC’s existing early childhood programs, including 3‑K, to provide free childcare for 2‑year-olds. The initiative will launch in September 2026 in certain neighborhoods and is planned to expand citywide by the 2029–30 school year.
“We are now going to be able to fix 3-K, we are going to be able to deliver ‘2-Care’ universally across this city over the next four years and we are going to be able to make it easier to raise a family in a city where today it’s a good deal if you can get $22,500 a year for childcare,” Mamdani said, standing beside Hochul in the Flatbush YMCA. “Those days are now coming to an end.”
On X, Mamdani wrote, “New Yorkers built a movement around the belief that every family should be able to afford a dignified life. Today, as [Governor Hochul] and I mark our commitment to universal childcare, we’re proving that a movement of the people can transform how government serves the people.”
While Hochul has committed to funding the first two years of NYC’s “2-Care” program, the long-term financial path remains a point of contention.
During Thursday’s announcement, she claimed that the initial investment will be drawn from existing state revenues, flatly rejecting the wealth-tax increases Mamdani championed during his campaign. This leaves it unclear how the program will be sustained once it expands citywide and the initial commitment expires in 2028.
“Just to let you know how serious we are, we’re taking the unprecedented step to not just commit for the 2027 budget, which I’m working on right now, but also the following year as well to show you we’re in this for the long haul,” Hochul said.
Childcare for 2-year-olds will be offered for 2,000 kids in the fall, Mamdani noted, though it “is going to continue to expand each and every year until we are serving each and every 2-year-old across the city,” he claimed.
Budget experts have said it could cost about $15 billion a year to implement universal childcare across all 62 counties in New York State.
Meanwhile, as Hochul faces reelection this year against Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, proposed tax increases to fund costly social programs could give her challengers fresh ammunition on the campaign trail.
Her administration has seen a 1.7% increase — $49 billion — in spending since she took office in 2021.
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