ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul announced a $1.7 billion expansion of the state’s childcare system Thursday, launching a free 2-Care program for 2-year-olds in New York City and setting a two-year deadline for universal pre-K statewide. She appeared alongside Democratic New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the Flatbush YMCA to talk about the proposal, a preview of next week’s State of the State address.
“This is the day that everything changes,” Hochul said. “We’re turning that foundation into a concrete, multi-year roadmap that will ultimately deliver universal child care for every single New York family statewide.”
Given Mamdani’s campaign built in part around childcare unaffordability, he and Hochul pitched the plan as the start of a new era of collaboration between the offices of the mayor and the governor. That relationship was previously defined by “dysfunction and discord,” according to Mamdani:…