00:00When a promise is made on a campaign, like the promise we made to deliver universal childcare
00:05across the five boroughs, it often does not feel real to New Yorkers.
00:10Many expect promises made by politicians to be broken or abandoned.
00:14And for good reason, they so often have been.
00:17But as the governor said in the rally where we announced the agreement that made today
00:21possible, the era of empty promises is over.
00:24Because what we are here together to announce today, my friends, is very real indeed.
00:30Beginning this fall, we will provide 2,000 free childcare seats for two-year-olds in four
00:36different parts of our city.
00:40We are launching free childcare for two-year-olds in Washington Heights, Inwood and Hamilton Heights.
00:47We are launching free childcare for two-year-olds in Fordham, Belmont, Bancortland Village, Morris
00:52Heights, Norwood and Kingsbridge.
00:55We are launching free childcare for two-year-olds in Canarsie, Remsen Village, Brownsville and
01:00Ocean Hill.
01:03And we are launching free childcare for two-year-olds in Ozone Park, South Ozone Park, Woodhaven,
01:08Richmond Hill, Howard Beach and the Rockaways.
01:13This is only the beginning of our efforts to deliver universal childcare across every corner
01:19of the five boroughs.
01:20And as we roll out this program, we want to get it right, to ensure that every family can
01:26access childcare, that providers are supported, and that when fall 2027 comes around, we have
01:32the infrastructure in place to provide free 2K to approximately 12,000 children.
01:40This first step will allow us to build the systems and the capacity we need to deliver exactly that.
01:45And it will allow us to reinvent our city as well.
01:50Universal childcare will not just provide our kids with the quality education they deserve.
01:54It won't just lift stress from parents' lives as they know their child has a seat close to
01:59home where they will be well taken care of.
02:01And it won't just rewrite statistics like the ones that tell us that families with kids
02:06under six are twice as likely to leave New York City as those without kids.
02:10It will place at least $20,000 per child back in the pockets of parents across our city,
02:17and will make it possible for countless parents to return to the careers they love.
02:22Woo!
02:22Woo!
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