The cost of childcare in New York City has skyrocketed. A 2025 report<\/a> by the city comptroller found the average cost of childcare for infants and toddlers in small, family-based options was around $18,200 a year, a 79% increase since 2019. The figures were even higher for center-based care, which came in at an average of $26,000 a year, reflecting an increase of 43% since 2019.<\/p>\n Mamdani interacts with Pre-K students at Friends of Crown Heights Education Center on November 13, 2025 in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood. Mamdani met with educators and visited with young students, speaking about his campaign promise of free care for children starting at 6 weeks old. – Michael M. Santiago\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Mamdani has said he would fund his proposal by taxing wealthy residents and raising the city\u2019s corporate tax rate.<\/p>\n Hochul, who is heading into her own reelection campaign in 2026, has thrown cold water on Mamdani\u2019s plan to raise income taxes on the wealthy, but she has left the door open on the possibility of raising the corporate tax. Facing a Democratic primary challenge from Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, Hochul will be under pressure to deliver an affordability-themed win of her own.<\/p>\n Hochul is the first woman elected to New York\u2019s top office and often talks about being the first \u201cmom governor.\u201d She has already moved to increase state subsidies for low-income families, which she says will help pave the way towards a universal option.<\/p>\n Freezing increases in rent-stabilized apartments<\/p>\n Mamdani wants to freeze the rent for roughly two million rent-stabilized tenants in New York City.<\/p>\n The proposal is a core plank of Mamdani\u2019s housing and affordability agenda, which also includes a pledge to build 200,000 units of affordable housing over the next decade and increasing funding to maintain already existing public housing.<\/p>\n To make the rent freeze happen, Mamdani has said he would appoint members to the city\u2019s Rent Guidelines Board who support his proposal. The nine-member board, which is controlled by the mayor, sets annual rent increases on stabilized units every year.<\/p>\n Construction workers walk past an affordable housing development in Willets Point in Queens on Monday, December 22, 2025. – Yuki Iwamura\/AP<\/p>\n The outgoing mayor, Eric Adams, appointed or reappointed<\/a> four members of the board in the final days of his term. That could delay a rent freeze by a year or more if Adams-picked members reject Mamdani\u2019s proposal and he waits for their terms to expire to replace them.<\/p>\n Board members serve terms of varying length, from two to four years, while the mayor can replace the chair at any time.<\/p>\n While there is wide support for a rent freeze among housing and tenant advocates, there is also opposition from the city\u2019s landlords and some experts who say freezing the rent in stabilized units without providing financial resources for small landlords will lead to apartments falling into disrepair and possibly worsen the city\u2019s housing crisis.<\/p>\n Making city buses \u2018fast and free\u2019<\/p>\n Mamdani often reminded New Yorkers about how slowly city buses crawl through New York City\u2019s congested streets. He campaigned on a promise to make city buses free to all passengers. His plan also seeks to speed up buses so New Yorkers can get to their destinations quicker and for free.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s plan, estimated to cost approximately $800 million per year, would be paid for by increasing corporate taxes and taxing wealthy residents. The proposal is yet another agenda item that would hinge on support from the state legislature and Hochul.<\/p>\n An American flag is seen on a rooftop as people walk on a street on Monday, December 22, 2025, in Queens. – Yuki Iwamura\/AP<\/p>\n Hochul cast doubt on making buses free for everyone after Mamdani\u2019s November victory.<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot set forth a plan right now that takes money out of a system that relies on the fares of the buses and the subways,\u201d she said at a political conference in Puerto Rico, according to The New York Times<\/a>. \u201cBut can we find a path to make it more affordable for people who need help? Of course we can.\u201d<\/p>\n Free buses are not an entirely new idea in the city. During the Covid-19 pandemic, bus fares were suspended on most bus routes. In 2023, while serving in the state assembly, Mamdani helped launch a free bus pilot program across five routes that ran for a year with some mixed results.<\/p>\n A Metropolitan Transportation Authority analysis<\/a> of the program found that while ridership increased by riders who took more trips, the buses did not speed up significantly on the free routes.<\/p>\n Five city-controlled supermarkets<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s plan to create five municipally controlled supermarkets, one in every borough, would offer groceries at lower prices to customers who have limited access to fresh food. In some neighborhoods, more than 30% of residents are food insecure, according to a 2024 City Council analysis<\/a>.<\/p>\n The proposal drew intense criticism during the campaign, with opponents accusing Mamdani of wanting to install Soviet-style grocery stores.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s plan would provide subsidies to the stores by providing discounted rent, utilities, buying wholesale produce and exempting property taxes. The city already helps to subsidize private grocery stores through initiatives<\/a> like the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health program, which offers tax and zoning incentives to supermarkets that open in underserved areas.<\/p>\n A man stacks fruit at a grocery store on November 6, 2025, in Brooklyn. – Spencer Platt\/Getty Images<\/p>\n As a landlord, the city also leases its commercial space to private supermarket owners willing to set up shop in underserved areas including near public housing complexes. Mamdani has said he would redirect some of those funds to stores that are controlled by the city.<\/p>\n The program would likely need the support of the New York City Council, which would approve funding to set up the pilot program. In a city dotted by bodegas \u2013 the small convenience stores that typically offer sandwiches and sell essential items but seldom have fresh produce \u2013 it\u2019s possible council members will face criticism from constituents who see the plan as a threat to their own business models.<\/p>\n![\"Mamdani](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/37066f14fbc7160d67a6ec06359d1b6d.jpeg\"\/)
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