Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul and Mayor Mamdani Unveil Phase Two of 2-K Expansion, Bringing Total Number of Seats to 12,000 Citywide

New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani today announced the next phase of the city's first-ever 2-K program. Starting in fall 2027, school districts will receive the next 10,000 2-K seats, bringing the program to 12,000 seats across the city, including all of Staten Island and every school district in the Bronx.

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:

I want to thank everyone who's been on this extraordinary journey with us. Since I became Governor five years ago, I've been laser focused on making sure that our children have every advantage possible to them, and that we finally take a heavy burden off our parents. And I'm so proud to have a partner in the Mayor of the City of New York. Mayor Mamdani and I have made this our personal mission, our quest, to let people know that we hear them. We understand the challenges of being a parent in a city that is otherwise very expensive.

And I think back to just yesterday when I was in the Bronx. I was with our great borough president, Vanessa Gibson - let's give it up for Vanessa Gibson - we were walking around the [Riverdale] Y Farmers Market, and a father came up to me. He said, "Governor, my wife and I were literally getting ready to move to Philadelphia because the rents are so high. We wanted to stay, but we couldn't, and we were heading out the door until we found out that our two-year-old qualified for childcare. It made all the difference, and now we're staying here in the Bronx."

That is one story among thousands of people who now know that this is one huge expense that's lifted off their shoulders, so there's more money for them to be able to cover their other expenses - as we understand them to be very high - groceries, and having to pay for the utility bills, and everything else, the rent bills, the mortgage. This is one thing they don't have to worry about.

And why is this so personal to me? Because I didhave to worry about it. I'm New York's first mom Governor. And I know what that means. I know what it means when you have a job you want to keep, but you have to say goodbye to it because there's no available, affordable childcare. I had to walk away from that job. It sent our family finances into a much more challenging place, and we lived through it. But it's heartbreaking to me to know that those babies that were born back then - they're parents today. They are now parents trying to find childcare for their kids, and this problem still has not been solved. But not here in New York State. Not here in New York, with these 12,000 slots. We are committed to making it happen. Twelve thousand lives, changed forever - the parents and the children.

And let me close with this: We're just getting warmed up, my friends. This was a huge commitment, but we're doing it statewide. We've invested money to have universal four-year-old programs for every child in New York in the next year and a half. That is a guarantee. We're going to get that done. We're going to make sure that this two-year-old program continues to expand. And to all the people in the Bronx and Staten Island, we're announcing today: Every single district in those two boroughs will have this available, spreading it to the other five. This is what government is all about - helping our people, lifting us up, supporting our kids, supporting our families. Thank you very much, Mayor. Thanks for being such an amazing partner.