Mamdani says New York child care expansion a real step to fulfilling campaign pledge
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s ambitious campaign pledge to offer universal child care took a significant step forward Thursday.
Appearing together, Mamdani and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a plan to increase spending on child care starting this year with the goal of eventually providing universal child care throughout the state for kids under 5.
In an interview with All Things Considered, Mamdani said the announcement means the state will commit $1.21 billion for New York City “to take the first steps towards universal child care.”
The city will be able to fund fixes to make universal care for 3-year-olds “a reality” and work toward enrolling about 2,000 kids aged 2 this fall, Mamdani added. He also praised Hochul for her partnership and for her commitment to fund the plan over the next two years.
Unfulfilled promises have turned New Yorkers away from politics, Mamdani said, adding that “if we want people to believe in our democracy, we have to show them that our democracy can actually deliver for them.”
Speaking to NPR’s Juana Summers, Mamdani discussed how the city and state will pay for and manage the expanded childcare program, the challenges posed by the Trump administration’s freeze on national childcare assistance funding and immigration enforcement.
Listen to the full interview by hitting the blue play button above.
The web copy was written by Obed Manuel.
Chicagoans pay respects to Jesse Jackson as cross-country memorial services begin
Memorial services for the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. to honor his long civil rights legacy begin in Chicago. Events will also take place in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, where he was born and began his activism.
In reversal, Warner Bros. jilts Netflix for Paramount
Warner Bros. says Paramount's sweetened bid to buy the whole company is "superior" to an $83 billion deal it struck with Netflix for just its streaming services, studios, and intellectual property.
Trump’s ballroom project can continue for now, court says
A US District Judge denied a preservation group's effort to put a pause on construction
NASA lost a lunar spacecraft one day after launch. A new report details what went wrong
Why did a $72 million mission to study water on the moon fail so soon after launch? A new NASA report has the answer.
Columbia student detained by ICE is abruptly released after Mamdani meets with Trump
Hours after the student was taken into custody in her campus apartment, she was released, after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed concerns about the arrest to President Trump.
These major issues have brought together Democrats and Republicans in states
Across the country, Republicans and Democrats have found bipartisan agreement on regulating artificial intelligence and data centers. But it's not just big tech aligning the two parties.
