Mayor Mamdani: New UES Preschool Opens This Fall
Mayor Zohran Mamdani: Good morning, neighbors. We are gathered together to open a 30,000 square foot early childhood education center inside of what was once a parking garage on 403 East 65th Street. This is a reflection of our commitment to transforming our city, and we are only here thanks to the hard work and the advocacy of so many. I want to say thank you to the community members and childcare advocates who have long called for this project, and thank you as well to the elected officials who are here alongside me, our Speaker Julie Menin and our Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, as well as our Community Board 8 Chair Valerie Mason.
For too long, parents across the city have faced a shortage of 3K and pre-K seats in their neighborhood. The lack of early childhood education centers left families with two bad choices: either claim a seat in a neighborhood far away or pay out of pocket for childcare. Upper East Siders have long called for the early childhood resources the neighborhood needs, and yet year after year, those calls were ignored. While this building was completed last summer, its classrooms have continued to sit empty for months. And so, while parents were forced to look elsewhere for childcare, they would walk past a solution to the very challenges that they faced, wondering why its doors remained closed. As one mother said at the time, "It's like a slap in the face every time we walk by." Today, we are righting that wrong, as we open the first standalone city-run early childhood center in the 10065 ZIP code.
By opening this center, we are more than doubling pre-K capacity and fully quadrupling 3K capacity within this ZIP code. In total, this center will serve 72 four-year-olds in pre-K and 60 three-year-olds in 3K. If you have a child turning three or four this calendar year, and you live in this neighborhood, there are several ways for you to apply. You can go online to myschools.nyc. You can call 718-935-2009. And if you've already applied, as I know more than 50,000 families have across our city, and you look at the news of this center and you're excited, know that you can go back to your application and edit it to include this center within your preferences.
And for those of you who are the kind of New Yorkers who tune into a midday presser, first, thank you. Second, I want to ask for your help. Please spread the word to those New Yorkers who might miss this announcement, to those who do not yet know that this city is taking a step forward in ensuring that 3K and pre-K is a reality for all who call this city home. And I want to be clear. Expanding access also means expanding our partnerships with existing childcare providers who want to partner with the city, working together to ensure that they can reliably fill their classrooms. Because it is actions like these where we meet the needs of New Yorkers, where we will make universal childcare a reality and drive down the monthly costs so many New York parents are forced to face.
Together, we are going to make this a city where parents are no longer forced between the choice of raising a family and staying in the city that they love. We will build a New York where working families can feel the benefit of more than $20,000 saved per year. And in so doing, we will build a city from the Upper East Side to Parkchester to Brighton Beach, where every New Yorker can afford a life of dignity and imagine a future here for their family and for their children. This is only the beginning. And I want to say thank you again to everyone who helped us get to this point. With that being said, I'm going to now pass it over to our speaker, Julie Menin.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin: Thank you so much, mayor. I cannot tell you how excited I am to be here today with, first of all, with all of the community advocates that push so hard with our community board chair, Valerie Mason. I know we also have Addeson Lehv who's here as well from CB8. This has been a long time coming. This is an amazing day, not only for the East Side, but for the city as a whole. We have to remember that we've had about 853 childcare facilities that have closed citywide in recent years, and yet the demand is higher than ever, but our supply is lower. And so, for parents in this district who literally would walk by, as you said, this facility since July - since July of last year, this facility was brand new and done. And parents would walk by and yet we wouldn't understand why it was not open.
We have been pushing for this for a very, very long time. And so, this is an incredible day for the East Side and for the city as a whole. In terms of universal childcare, this is not a new issue for the city council. We have been pushing for this for many, many years. In 2022, the Council passed a package of bills - I had five bills in that package - that were supposed to put New York City on a path to universal childcare, create an advisory board, create tax abatements for property owners to build more childcare facilities, create a subsidy portal. So much of that did not happen. And now I am so thrilled with the partnership with the mayor and the governor. This is now going to be a reality. So, this is an incredible day for the East Side.
This is going to allow us to be able to fulfill this mandate to parents in this community. I can't tell you the number of parents who have said to us, "If we do not get affordable childcare, we're going to leave the city." So, this is such an incredibly important day. I also want to thank our borough president, Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who has been a great partner to us in this fight. And at the end of the day, this is really a sign of what we need to do citywide to open up more childcare facilities, to make sure that every single parent that needs a slot for 3K and pre-K has it. We're actually doing a day of action on Monday with Councilmembers throughout the city to spread the word, to make sure that families are signing up. And so, I really couldn't be more excited to be here today. Thank you.
Mayor Mamdani: Thank you, Speaker Menin. And now we'll pass it over to our friend and our borough president of this borough we call home in Manhattan, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Segal.
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal: Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Manhattan Borough President. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for your priority for pre-K and 3K. It means a lot. I see some candidates right here in the audience who are looking on in this gleaming, beautiful new facility. There's a whole New York City kitchen behind us, in addition. And I want to thank the speaker, because I know this has been a priority for her as Councilmember and the community board, Valerie Mason and her colleagues. This is an example of community partnership, grassroots activism, really at the neighborhood level making policy differences here on the east side.
So, thank you, speaker. Thank you, Valerie. To the speaker's point about the fact that we have an out-migration of families because of the lack of childcare - in New York City, there have been 110,000 children under five over the last decade who have left with their families to suburbs and other parts of the country. Well, we need to keep families here on the East Side and throughout Manhattan, and facilities like this, Mr. Mayor and Speaker, will help achieve that goal. So, thank you very much. I had very little to nothing to do with it, but I'm here to celebrate your leadership and thank you.
Mayor Mamdani: Thank you to all of our speakers. And I will just say before we start our Q&A that, you know, I had a family member pull me aside who has a young child and say, "Can you please stop advertising about 3K and pre-K, because I want to make sure that we all actually get a seat." And that's how so many New Yorkers have been engaging with this process, worried about whether they will have a city that can meet the demand. And what we are showing today, alongside elected officials, community advocates, and organizers and families is that this is going to be a city that can meet the needs of every single child that wants a seat. And we are going to do the work to ensure that we are bringing that seat closer to home. Thank you all so much.
Question: Two questions, Mr. Mayor. First on this, I see that applications are only up until the 27th, which doesn't give people a lot of time. So, even though they've been coming in, are you considering expanding that deadline?
Mayor Mamdani: This is the deadline. We will keep it to the 27th to ensure that we can actually do the work after the deadline of meeting every family's request. Now, we also know that there are more than 50,000 New Yorkers who've already put in applications. They may see this news and say, "Well, this is a center closer to me." They can go to their application and edit it and put this center at the top of their preferences if they so choose. After the 27th, families will have the option to add their names to wait lists. Until the 27th, however, it is an open application. And just one other thing to make clear to families: it's not a first-come, first-served process. If you apply on the first day of this timeline or the last day of this timeline, your application is treated the same. You just have to get your application in by February 27th.
Question: And second question is regarding your preliminary budget proposal. You've asked agencies and you've appointed people to do the cuts, but 1.5% to 2%, why not - Bloomberg was asking agencies to do 5% every year - why not adopt something like that for better savings?
Mayor Mamdani: So, in the first fiscal year, we've put a goal of 1.5%. In the second fiscal year, we've put a goal of 2.5%. And what we found is that in prior administrations, when you set an expense goal of 3%, 5% - as we saw in the prior administration - that's the point at which the city has to start to change its service provision. That's the point at which garbage can collection is reduced. That's the point at which library service hours are cut. We do not want to put forward a City government that cannot meet the needs of New Yorkers. We do want to pursue any and all inefficiencies, eliminate any and all waste and do so in a manner that makes clear we have to bring the city back to firm financial footing.
Question: Following up on that 3K and pre-K deadline - last we spoke in late January, the number of applications received by the city at that point were basically in line with where we were last year under former Mayor Adams, who you criticized for his outreach efforts. Where are we now? Has that number grown? And do you want to reflect on how that application pool compared today to a few years [inaudible]?
Mayor Mamdani: So, right now, we are currently in line with prior years, and we are also anticipating that, as is typically the case, the closer we get to the deadline, the more families will take that final step. We are looking to use every single tool at our disposal to reach out to families, whether that be LinkNYC kiosks, whether it be in the back of a taxicab, whether it be robocalls to families across the city. We want to make sure that every New Yorker knows, in whatever language they speak, that this is a city that wants them to enroll their child, whether they're turning three or four this year into our 3K and pre-K. They can do so by going online, by making a phone call, and also by going to more than ten welcome centers. And I can tell you that I had the privilege of being with the [New York City Public Schools] chancellor and watching a navigator assist a mother and her young child in doing this enrollment process. It is far more straightforward than many of the other processes we've seen.
Question: In light of your meeting with the Congressional Delegation later today, there are a number of DSA-backed challengers, I think it's a pretty [inaudible] are those candidates you're going to be supporting?
Mayor Mamdani: All the endorsements that I've made are the ones that I am speaking about publicly at this time. When I have any additional information on that, I will be sure to share it. What I can tell you is I'm looking forward to this meeting and the opportunity to speak with our Congressional Delegation about what this city needs and how we can work together to deliver for the constituents that we all call our own.
Question: Hello, Mr. Mayor. So, first, I wanted to ask what outreach do we do to immigrant and ethnic communities who don't speak English, because I understand this program is available to everybody. And the second question, how happy are you with the feedback you received after presenting your preliminary budget?
Mayor Mamdani: So, we have sought to use every single tool at our disposal. We also had a roundtable with ethnic and immigrant media to specifically speak to constituencies that may be receiving their news through other means. And within our phone number that New Yorkers can call, there are a number of additional languages. I think over 200 languages are offered so that New Yorkers can actually enroll in this and that language access is not a barrier to that end. And we have been heartened, frankly, by the results we've seen thus far and also the realization that this is a program for everyone. And what we want to also do is show that we are going to be able to meet the needs of New Yorkers who want to apply to this program. Because I think as we've heard from both myself and a number of other speakers, we've quite literally had an empty building that was ready to be opened just sit vacant for months. And that is the kind of example where New Yorkers look at it and they ask themselves, is this City government doing anything towards the need that we've been speaking about? And we're excited to be delivering on a new era where we not only do the obvious things like opening up a childcare center that is ready to go, but also do the work of reaching out and working with childcare providers to make sure that we are building on that relationship.
And to your second question, you know, we have laid out the facts of our preliminary budget, facts that include our city facing a generational fiscal crisis, the likes of which we haven't seen since the Great Recession. And unlike the Great Recession, this was not caused by external factors. This was entirely man-made and within the control of City government. Now we are inheriting this crisis, and we are required by law to balance the budget of our preliminary budget for this fiscal year and the next one. And we've showcased that in order to do so, the path that we want to pursue is working with Albany to raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers, the most profitable corporations, by that little bit more, while ending the drain that has characterized the relationship between the city and the state, so that we can balance that budget. If we do not have that state action, then the only tools that the city has at its disposal is a property tax increase. That is not a pursuit that we want to follow through on.
Question: I have two questions, one on the budget. On the budget, the previous head of the Office to Combat Antisemitism introduced a proposal of $20 million to start a process of identifying vulnerable locations or houses of worship. Is that something you're considering or you're committed to in your Executive Budget? And second - the speaker was just here - there was a report in City and State last week that the NYPD Commissioner, Tisch, expressed reservations about the buffer zone legislation. Have you spoken to her about it? Have you spoken to the speaker about it?
Mayor Mamdani: I've shared that when it comes to these proposals and others, that I care deeply about ensuring that New Yorkers can worship freely in their own city, and that we also protect the First Amendment rights to protest all at the same time. And that's why I directed my Law Department and my NYPD to conduct a review of the legality of this proposal as well as others. And I can tell you that my police commissioner has expressed concerns about that proposal.
And on the first question that you put forward - as you've said, this is a preliminary budget. We have an Executive Budget, and then we have an adopted budget. It'll continue to be an active process. What I can tell you, however, is that we are expanding the amount of funding for our office to combat antisemitism, and we are also looking to utilize every tool at our disposal to ensure that we root out bigotry from across the five boroughs.
Question: I actually have two questions, Mr. Mayor. One on police and one on sanitation. On police, as you know, there's been some pushback about your decision not to hire the 5,000 cops that your predecessor wanted to hire. But my question is, given the fact that your budgeted headcount is 35,000, and you can't even fill that because of attrition, which is like 250 to 300 every single month, what are you going to do to try to convince people that they want to work in New York City as a police officer? Because you actually have a problem with filling the headcount that you have now. And [what's] your reaction to the fact that there's pushback on the 5,000?
Mayor Mamdani: I'll say that we've seen an issue with retention in our Department over the last few years. And I've said time and again that for too long, the city has added additional responsibilities onto the NYPD. We see at this point the NYPD responsible for responding to about 200,000 mental health calls a year. And part of our vision in establishing a Department of Community Safety is to start to take that responsibility of mental health crises and task mental health responders with that work, and to ensure that police can focus on the work that they signed up to focus on, which is tackling violent crime across the city. And I'm also appreciative of the work that's already been done by my police commissioner within the Department of starting to bridge that gap. We're seeing larger and larger classes also being hired towards that end.
Question: Are you saying that you want to improve their quality of life by saying that they don't have to work so much forced overtime and things like that, so they have a better lifestyle, and they're more likely to stay in the Department?
Mayor Mamdani: I think it's absolutely a critical part of this. And I think too much of that forced overtime has also come from a result of the ever-expanding number of responsibilities we've given to those officers.
Question: On sanitation, there's a question about whether the actions of a sanitation plower - by plowing a shoulder of the highway and pushing the snow onto the highway - caused the death of somebody. And there are reports that somebody has been suspended in the Sanitation Department. Can you comment on that?
Mayor Mamdani: So, this is currently the subject of an active NYPD investigation, and I can't provide comment while that is underway, but I will be sure to update you as we have anything to share.
Question: I know it's a preliminary budget and you have a huge budget gap, but the expansion of Fair Fares was missing from the budget, and that's something that you said you would do in addition to free buses. You didn't get the free buses, but the expansion of fare fares would make transit more affordable for more New Yorkers. So, is that still going to happen even though it's not in the preliminary budget?
Mayor Mamdani: So, this is very much a first step in our budget process. We have an Executive Budget and then an Adopted Budget before the end of June. And I continue to believe deeply in the importance of making public transit more affordable, and Fair Fares is a critical tool in that. And I appreciate the organizers and advocates who have always ensured that it's top of mind, because we have to make this a city where working people can get around. We also have to put forward a budget that not only charts the course of our first year in office but frankly charts the course amidst the kind of fiscal crisis we haven't seen here in more than a decade.
Question: Have you talked to the governor about maybe the state helping to fund Fair Fares?
Mayor Mamdani: I continue to have conversations with the governor around the importance of making public transit more affordable, and I appreciate the partnership that we've developed. Thank you all so much.
https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/02/transcript--mayor-mamdani-announces-opening-of-upper-east-side-e.html
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