Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul visited the York College Child and Family Center in Queens to highlight her proposal for universal childcare in New York State. During her visit, she interacted with children and staff at the center.
Governor Hochul emphasized the importance of investing in early childhood education and making childcare more affordable for families. She stated, “One of the best things I ever get to do in this job is to play with children, especially three-year-olds, because I happen to be a three-year-old expert with a three-year-old grandchild. And I just spent time going from room to room in this incredible place at the York College Childcare and Family Center, a place that is welcoming and warm and loving and that’s what I took away from this. And I just want to expand this to even more children.”
She thanked Charlene Dertinger, Executive Director of the center, as well as Senator Leroy Comrie for his leadership. She also acknowledged Felix V. Matos Rodriguez, Chancellor of CUNY, and Claudia V. Schrader, President of York College.
Governor Hochul spoke about her personal experience with childcare challenges: “Young families… trying to start out and raise a family, it was hard when we couldn’t find childcare that was affordable or just even available and had to leave a job that I loved. It took me a long time to get to that position, and then I had to walk away from it because my children had to come first.”
She noted that many families face high costs for childcare in New York City—ranging from $26,000 to $40,000 per year per child—which creates financial pressure on parents starting their careers or earning minimum wage.
To address these issues, Governor Hochul announced an investment plan: “We have an aggressive, bold, ambitious plan to make sure that our children are well cared for and have the benefit of early childhood education but also addressing the cost.” She said she has already invested $8 billion in childcare over four years as governor.
Hochul outlined new initiatives including partnering with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on expanding 3K programs by aligning state assistance with local demand. She added: “But then why not start getting going on a program that is going to take care of our two year olds as well, the 2-Care programs. So we’ll fully fund that. The State of New York has committed fully funding that… I’ve already taken this unprecedented step of committing next year as well.”
She described plans for pilot programs targeting newborns through three-year-olds in Dutchess County, Monroe County, and Broome County.
Statewide goals include providing every parent of a four-year-old access to pre-kindergarten (4K) by 2028 through schools or local providers.
The governor highlighted the economic benefits: “This is good for business and we’re also going to be working with businesses to incentivize them to provide either onsite childcare… When our parents go back to work, the economy roars…”
For this year alone, she cited an investment of $4.5 billion toward these efforts.
“So we continue our journey to talk about something that is one of my top priorities,” Governor Hochul concluded.