Transcript: Mayor Mamdani and Governor Hochul Open 2-K Applications in First Four 2-K Communities
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office transcripts.
Passages
Hello, everybody. Good morning. Hello Rockaway Beach. I gotta say, I was very close to taking my shoes off and [taking] a quick dip. It is a pleasure to join all of you for an announcement that took a lot of determination, grit and today a little bit of sand. Starting today, 2-K applications are now open for New York City families in five districts, including in District 27, which encompasses all of the Rockaway Peninsula. We celebrate this milestone, which was made possible thanks to the partnership of Governor Hochul, who I am proud to stand alongside this morning. Governor Hochul is a working parent herself, New York's first mom governor, and she understands firsthand how the lack of affordable childcare can derail parents' careers and force families to make the kinds of sacrifices that should never be the case. Now I want to acknowledge a number of leaders that we have here alongside us today. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who is here with us. We have Council Members Rita Joseph and Shekar Krishnan, who are here with us. Sheril Napier, the director of the Sheldon R. Weaver Child Care Center, who is here with us. All of the advocates who fought for this in the Rockaways and across the city who are here with us. If we can have a round of applause for them. And I want to recognize them and recognize the parents and the childcare workers who have fought to make universal childcare a reality in this city. Parents who maybe had two free hours a week and spent them canvassing six-story walk-ups with a baby strapped to their chest. New Yorkers whose children had long moved out of the house but who still stood on street corners gathering petition signatures because they believed in a more affordable New York City. And childcare workers who raised their hands to talk about what it's actually like running a childcare center. The joys [and] the challenges, so that as we expand our childcare access across the city, we also improve the way that our system works. And what we are here together today to celebrate is the direct result of so many New Yorkers who not only dared to imagine a brighter and a better future, but who worked tirelessly to deliver it. This morning, on what I must say is a perfect 72-degree day, sunny here in the Rockaways, we stand on the brink of a summer that will feel very different for the families in this area. Instead of stressing about how they'll be able to afford childcare come the fall, instead of picking up extra shifts or working overtime, parents can come to this beach with their children without having to worry. As they enjoy the sun [and] the waves, they'll be able to rest easy knowing that their kids will be taken care of in high-quality childcare programs and that those programs will be free. It is truly a pleasure to be here to celebrate this moment as we embark on a new chapter in our city's history, a chapter where we make it easier to raise a family in the place that we all love. And I couldn't be more honored to now introduce someone who helped to make this day possible, Governor Kathy Hochul.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceAnd now it is a pleasure to introduce [Queens] Borough President Donovan Richards.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceOkay, I'm now proud to call up a forever educator herself, Council Member Rita Joseph.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceThank you so much, Council member. It is now my pleasure to call up Council Member Shekar Krishnan.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceYou know, we want to be everywhere all the time, all at once. And I think you can see it right now that, as the borough president said, some of the places that were so excited to introduce free childcare for two-year-olds to are the very places that are often last on the list. And so, we want to make sure that parents know that those days are over, that now we are here in the Rockaways to begin a transformative program, not to end it. And it will mean press conferences like this. It will mean a 2-K run that I'm a little bit nervous about; my time for that will be happening quite shortly. It will also mean putting out a jingle that New Yorkers can vote for right now for 2-K because we want to reach parents wherever they are. It is not enough for [the] government to pat itself on the back and say, “We have a good program. People should find out about it.” We have to do the work of actually making it easier to know about that program. And we know that for years there hasn't been adequate investment in that outreach, and we're starting to turn that tide today. We're gonna be everywhere.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceWell, you know, I have been excited to see the results of the bell-to-bell cell phone ban that has been implemented. It's something that I was proud to support. I know others here were also supportive of that, and we've heard from a number of teachers as to how it's made their jobs far easier to actually do and easier for students to be able to learn from them. And I'm looking forward to considering any additional suggestions there are to make for a more productive learning environment, whether that means the proposals that you've mentioned. And then generally, I'd say that our administration as a whole is engaging with the topic of AI and seeing how we can ensure that we're responsibly stewarding not only our school system, but [also] our city through a moment of immense transformation. [Crosstalk.]
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceYou know, I'm excited at the focus on Darializa’s campaign in that it brings to light the possibility of electing a champion for working people. And one of the things that drew me to her candidacy was the fact that she's the daughter of a single mom caseworker who's dedicated her entire life to fighting for the people that our politics often leave behind. She's someone who brings with her a track record of securing the release of neighbors who have been unfairly detained by ICE And I think that what we're seeing is a real groundswell of excitement around that same candidacy. And I know that we have only just a few weeks until Election Day. I'm excited to help be a part of that.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceYou know, she said herself that that a lot of these don't reflect her views today, and I'm incredibly excited to be supporting her today and her vision for not only in New York City, but frankly, the United States of America, that working people can afford.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceWell, the NYPD and the Office of Community Safety share a goal of delivering public safety for New Yorkers. And we've been having a long standing conversation about the ways in which we can ensure that officers are able to focus on the serious crimes that they signed up to respond to, and that we can have an Office of Community Safety that can start to build out our city's response to the mental health crisis, as well as so many other crises that are typically pushed into, as you described it, ancillary agencies. And this previously scheduled meeting this week is one part of the building of that collaboration between the two. However, I think you can see whether it be in the ways in which we combat gun violence, or the ways in which we respond to an incidence of mental health crisis, that there is room for that collaboration. We're excited for that to grow.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think you said it best yourself, which is the fact that for a long time, these are programs that have been under-invested in, not even given the actual opportunity to succeed. And that is one of the reasons why we increased funding for B-HEARD in our executive budget, to ensure that at the very least, we can start to respond to the calls that they qualify for, and then continue to build on that, to ensure that our city has a mental health response that is befitting the scale of that crisis for New Yorkers across the five boroughs.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceWe've made sure that any investment in the QueensWay also ensures that it does not preclude any future investment in QueensLink. And that is something that our team has made clear to those who are excited by this prospect, and I've also said [it] myself, because we want to ensure that we are building more parks for New Yorkers today and that we're also not precluding the ability to do anything different tomorrow.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, it's not a question of if, it's a question of where, and we are incredibly excited for tomorrow to begin and for the chance to run back 1999 with a very different result. And we know that the Knicks organization will be sharing news soon as to where those watch parties will be.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI can say that our conversations have largely been focused on questions of protocol and procedure as it pertains to how excited New Yorkers are. I'm appreciative of the fact that they did release a few hundred tickets to a charity for those who would otherwise not be able to afford this. However, the conversations haven't extended beyond that at this time.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceThe focus has really been on the games themselves in terms of how the city will respond to it. However, I am someone who is looking at any possible avenue to ensure that every New Yorker can appreciate and enjoy this. And I think you can feel the magic in the air across our city and the excitement for the finals. Thank you very much.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source
Every passage above is taken from this recording: NYC Mayor's Office transcripts, Transcript: Mayor Mamdani and Governor Hochul Open 2-K Applications in First Four 2-K Communities.