By 5 Towns Central Staff

NEW YORK CITY (August 10, 2026) – Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign promise to provide universal free child care across New York City could carry a much higher price tag than originally projected, according to a new independent study.

A report released by the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School estimates that fully implementing the program for children from six weeks old through age 5 would cost the city between $8.7 billion and $9.3 billion every year.

That is roughly $3 billion more annually than the approximately $6 billion cost Mamdani cited during his campaign.

Mamdani has proposed making child care free for every family, regardless of income, beginning with newborns as young as six weeks old. His campaign said the initiative would be financed largely through higher taxes on New York’s wealthiest residents.

The new analysis suggests that staffing would be one of the biggest expenses. Mamdani has pledged to substantially increase child care worker compensation, bringing their salaries closer to those of public school teachers.

To operate the expanded system, the city would need to add an estimated 23,000 child care workers. Much of the additional workforce would be needed for infants and toddlers, who require significantly higher staff-to-child ratios than older children.

The report estimates the program could cost approximately $27,000 per child each year.

City Hall has not yet released its own detailed cost estimate, leaving questions about how the administration intends to close the multibillion-dollar gap between its campaign projection and the latest independent analysis.

The findings could become an early fiscal challenge for Mamdani as his administration works to turn one of his most prominent campaign promises into a citywide program.