Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani today announced that more than 2,000 children have received offers to join New York City's inaugural 2-K class. This milestone is a major step forward in the Governor and Mayor's efforts to deliver free childcare for all two-year-olds in New York City. Earlier this year, the Governor announced $73 million to establish the first 2,000 2-K seats in the City. With continued State support, the State's investment in 2-K is expected to grow to $425 million by next year, 2027.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Thank you, Mayor. And I want to thank you for executing on a vision with such speed, and to your entire team who made this happen, taking it from a dream to reality in such record speed. I mean, this is what government is all about. It's supposed to work for the people, but not years from now, but now, when the need is so incredibly great. So you've been a great partner, and I'm really proud to stand with you here today, as well as all the elected officials that have been acknowledged and our Chancellor as well.

Today, 2000 families are going to click on their inbox, and their lives will change forever. Imagine getting an offer that your child will now be eligible for free - free childcare. The excitement you must feel - all of a sudden, the burden lifted off your chest. And you look at that pile of bills and say, maybe I actually can make these payments this month. And all of a sudden life feels good. Life feels manageable. All kinds of possibilities have opened up for you and your family. Whether it's you can now stay in the neighborhood you wanted to, raise your family right here in New York, or, if you're thinking about it, even expand your family now because you know it won't be that crushing burden that you had been living under before. You know it means your family and you will have a chance to really get ahead for the first time.

This is what today means. This is the significance of this moment. An enormous weight, as I said, has been lifted, and families all across New York will receive that sense of relief, starting in 19 communities across New York City.

And when I talk about this, it's in the backdrop of what's happening in Washington. While here in New York, we're prioritizing our youngest, giving them a head start at a better life, we literally have the Trump administration talk about eviscerating the longstanding, wildly successful, nonpartisan Head Start program. So I'm proud of what we're doing here in New York, but always conscious there's other states that don't have the same leadership, that are not prioritizing families the way we are here in New York. So let us be a model to others. Let them know that in our hearts we know who we're putting first. And that is New York's families and New York's children. So here we are talking about the high cost of childcare, what it does to families.

You talk about, Mayor, the families that may not have to contemplate leaving their jobs. I was a person who left my job. You've heard me tell this story. I loved my job. It's something I dreamed about for a long time, but I also dreamed about starting a family with my new husband. And those two desires collided when I could not find childcare that we could afford. So I had to walk away from my job. My future was uncertain, the income in our family plummeted, and all of a sudden I'm there clutching coupons, trying to get the biggest box of diapers I could find at the big box store. I was there. And that is why, as governor, this is so deeply personal to me, to know that families, because of our partnership and our willingness to put money - not just words, but money - behind real programs, they will not have to endure the same stress that my young family had to deal with.

Now those little kids are having their own families. That's why I'm so good with your little daughter. I play with children as often as I can, because there's some part of me that feels so connected to little ones - their innocence and their belief that there's adults who will take care of them. They don't have a worry in the world. That's what today is about, not just taking that worry away from kids, but also from their parents. Their parents deserve to have a worry-free existence, and that's what's going to continue to make New York City, New York State, so exceptional, when we prioritize our families and people say, yes, it's expensive in New York. But you know what? When all of a sudden you don't have to cover $20,000 - sometimes upwards of $40,000 - for one child alone? That's life changing. That is life changing.

And we're doing this all over New York. I made a commitment in our budget this past year, $4.5 billion for childcare and pre-K across the state. There are places of New York [where] we do not even have a 4-year-old program. I want to make sure we level the playing field so all children in the state of New York have the same opportunities. So we're investing 35,000 more seats for pre-K across the state so every 4-year-old has access. We have pilot programs going on in Monroe, Dutchess and Broome counties to start getting infants into programs. 1,000 infants will now have access to programs. So it starts with programs like these. And we're continuing to expand. If I add it all up, since I've been governor - first mom governor - $12 billion toward childcare that had not been spent before. That's how we change people's lives. That's how we want them to look at New York State, New York City, through a different set of eyes.

And to all the employers out there: This is for you as well. Because when you're trying to recruit people - the best talent from elsewhere - to get young people to stay here instead of going elsewhere, when you can say, "Come to New York, stay in New York, because now we're helping with the cost of childcare," this is going to be a game changer that is going to position us for great leadership and excellence for decades to come.

So again, Mayor, this is a great one to team up on. We do it not just for making sure that we support our families, but we're doing it for the future of all little children. So thank you very much for making this happen. Thank you.