Gov. Kathy Hochul said she’s bullish on Zohran Mamdani and strongly hinted that she plans to make a big splash in 2026 by pushing to enact a multi-billion dollar taxpayer-funded universal child care program — a priority for the incoming socialist mayor.
“I think he [Mamdani] is going to surprise a lot of people,” Democrat Hochul said Sunday on 77 WABC the “Cats Roundtable” radio program.
“Everybody — let’s give him a chance,” she said.
She said she has a “good relationship” with Mamdani, as does President Trump, despite disagreements.
But Democrat Hochul, who is seeking re-election to a second four-year term next year, said “there’s an awful lot of alignment” between her and democratic socialist Mamdani — particularly citing universal child care.
“Affordability and driving down the cost of living in this great city,” she told host John Catsimatidis.
Hochul telegraphed that she’ll make state-funded universal child care a key part of her 2026 policy agenda, which she has discussed at length with Mamdani.
Mamdani proposed to pay for his $6 billion “no-cost” childcare for every New Yorker aged 6 weeks to 5 years by raising taxes on corporations and boosting incomes on the top 1% of income earners, generating an estimated $9 billion combined.
“[Mamdani] and I have had many meetings — individually and with our staff — to find a path forward, something reasonable that we can get started on: universal child care,” the governor said.
She agreed with Mamdani’s argument that child care costs are making it difficult for young families to stay in the city.
Hochul also claimed publicly-funded universal child care is pro-business.
“Employers in New York are really going to benefit when their own employees don’t have to stress on who’s taking care of their children. I think that’s going to give real competitive advantages to our businesses as well,” the governor said.
“I’m excited about that.”
Hochul did not say how she would fund the dramatic expansion of child care, or whether it would be imposed statewide or just in the city. It could be phased in over a number of years, for example.
She opposes raising income taxes, but has not ruled out increasing other levies, including the corporate tax rate.
The governor will likely spell out the financing for such a program in her 2026 State of the State address on June 13 or subsequent budget presentation.
Meanwhile, Hochul said she was pleased Mamdani asked Jessica Tisch to stay as the city police commissioner.
“”Everybody — let’s give him a chance. No one wants to root against New York City,” she said, calling it the economic engine of the US. “We want it to be successful.”
She noted she worked closely with outgoing Mayor Eric Adams and his predecessor, Bill de Blasio, and would do the same with Mamdani.
“Albany has a lot to say about things but I want to have a positive relationship [with Mamdani],” Hochul said.
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