Zohran Mamdani has an ambitious agenda. What does he need to do immediately during his first 100 days in office to make his promises a reality? And what can his administration do to make life better for New York City residents, right from the jump? Over the next two weeks, Hell Gate will be answering those questions.
First up, a look at his plans for universal free child care.
Zohran Mamdani has consistently said that universal, free child care will be his number one priority when he comes into office as mayor. It is the campaign pledge that has garnered the most vocal support from Governor Kathy Hochul. But it’s also the largest and most complicated undertaking he promised, and the one that comes with the biggest price tag–a cost that Mamdani will need state support to cover. If he wants to deliver on child care, he'll have to position himself to be ready to get to work as soon as he's in office—and to tackle multiple challenges at once.
The first step, multiple experts and advocates said, will have to be to fix what Eric Adams broke. "You can't build a new system on a broken foundation," said Emmy Liss, an independent early childhood consultant who worked on pre-K and 3K under Bill de Blasio.