Universal Childcare

9/11 changed my view of childcare forever. At 7 am that morning, I dropped my 15-month-old son Ben off at childcare in the World Trade Center. About 6 hours later, I found him asleep with no signs of the harrowing day I wrote about in my blog post, “9/11 first responders: Karen rescued my son from WTC.” I can never repay Karen and her colleagues for their heroism, but I can pay forward my obligation to advocate for the childcare community.

Universal Childcare is my comprehensive plan to support NYC families with young children, from one-year-old through kindergarten and beyond.

Do you want Universal Childcare in NYC? Donate here!

My Vision: Making Each Childcare Location a Center for Community Care

8 am - 6 pm free childcare, including summers
Childcare centers in every community, rolled out gradually, beginning with the neighborhoods where it’s needed the most
Coordination with the Department of Health for infant and maternal health
Partnerships to provide free or low-cost baby and women’s hygiene products
Educational resources for mothers and families
Easy-to-use technology for managing placement, attendance, and health

How We’ll Bring Universal Childcare to NYC

Build on the foundation of Universal Pre-K and address gaps in delivery

Leverage the Community Based Organization model, expanding both home-based and institutional providers, and work to safely re-open existing childcare centers closed by the pandemic
Streamline licensing of people and facilities and enhance training
Shift government oversight from reactive & punitive to proactive & collaborative
Use technology to make the system user-friendly, easy to navigate, and fair
Include all stakeholders in planning and administration, and treat parents as partners
Prioritize childcare “deserts” first, then gradually roll out more facilities across the city

Childcare is a deeply personal issue for me. It was essential to supporting my wife in her career - and me in mine.

I was raised in a household of domestic violence; I have often wondered if my mother had free childcare, could she have left my father?

After my 9/11 experience, both of my kids continued in childcare. And once school began, we still needed at-home childcare -- for which we paid living wages with benefits plans and payroll, which is not the case for childcare workers. In fact, in New York, the average childcare worker would have to spend 57.5% of their monthly wages to put their own child in childcare. Childcare should not be a privilege for the wealthy, but a right for all.

Before COVID, fewer than 10% of families could afford childcare, leaving women to fill the gap at a tremendous cost to their own potential and well being. During COVID, the demand has only grown while the supply has shrunk, forcing women to choose between jobs and caregiving. In December 2020 alone, women lost 140,000 jobs, while men gained 16,000 jobs. And as we see all around us among our friends and family: a pandemic baby boomlet is about to hit.