Then New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani holds hands with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., at the end of a campaign rally at Forest Hills Stadium in the Queens borough of New York City on October 26, 2025. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
The congresswoman, who is considered one of the leading figures of the Democratic Party and a prospective 2028 presidential contender, said that "free childcare is one of the most important ways we can make our city more affordable for everyone."
She touted a registration line available in over 200 languages, saying, "No family should be shut out from our programs just because of the language they speak."
Mamdani asserted that "for too long, New York City families have been crushed by the cost of childcare, paying as much as $26,000 per child every single year."
"That is not sustainable, it is not fair, and it is not inevitable," he said.
In front of a painting of Alexander Hamilton, Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks to reporters about the city's finances during a news conference in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (Seth Wenig/AP Photo)
"New York is really a prime example of a problem Democrats seem unwilling to confront. Blue cities are out of control. Promising more, spending more, delivering less and pushing off the fiscal problems to some future day," Zakaria said.
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"Zohran Mamdani ran on a promise to make New York affordable," the host went on. "Last week, he unveiled a budget that is, in a word, unaffordable. New York has been fiscally profligate for so long that the headline number, $127 billion, produces little shock. But for perspective, these are similar to the annual expenditures of a mid-sized nation with all the expenses a country requires, like Greece or Thailand, devoted to governing one city."
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/aoc-mamdani-urge-parents-regardless-immigration-status-enroll-free-pre-k