Mamdani says Blakeman would cancel New York’s child-care program

Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned that Bruce Blakeman would cancel New York’s universal child-care program if elected governor, making the program a central issue at a campaign rally in Brooklyn. The New York Post reported that Gov. Kathy Hochul appeared with Mamdani at the event in Crown Heights on October 25, 2026. Mamdani said Hochul had helped fund the $1.2 billion program.

He argued that New York City was the most expensive city in the United States and said a Blakeman victory would make raising a child there cost more. The Post quoted Mamdani telling the crowd that the Republican candidate had said he would cancel universal child care if elected.

Mamdani also questioned Blakeman’s political judgment over that position, saying he did not know which consultant had advised him that it was a winning message. The Post’s account presents Mamdani’s warning and his assessment of the program’s affordability stakes; it does not provide a separate statement from Blakeman on child care.

Hochul used the rally to criticize Blakeman on elections and leadership. She said he was trying to undermine elections and weaken confidence that votes were protected. Referring to Blakeman’s stated preference, she said he wanted to bring “Trump-style leadership” to Albany. Those remarks were Hochul’s claims at the event, as reported by the Post.

The rally also included campaign organizing: the Post described the pair addressing canvassers at Medgar Evers College’s Edison O. Jackson Auditorium. Hochul is seeking a second four-year term and is scheduled to face Blakeman on November 3.

AOL and Yahoo separately characterized the Hochul-Blakeman contest as one in which the candidates traded attacks as the race entered its final stretch. The immediate contest is therefore both about the future of the child-care program and the candidates’ competing political claims.

Mamdani tied Blakeman’s stated position to the cost of raising children in New York City, while Hochul focused her criticism on elections and the leadership Blakeman says he wants to bring to Albany.