Mamdani struggles to deliver on key promises like affordable housing, free childcare: first report card

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s first report card shows his grandiose socialist promises to be a savior for the working class leave much to be desired, as two of his biggest priorities – affordable housing and free childcare – have fallen short of their targets.One of his core campaign planks during the 2025 race was promising free child care for kids under age 5 citywide.However, the number of New York City schoolchildren enrolled in the city’s 3-K program slipped to 43,678 in fiscal year 2026, down from 44,729 in the prior fiscal year, according to the September 2026 Mayor’s Management Report (MMR) released Thursday.Enrollment in the 3-K program fell short of the administration’s own target of 45,454.Meanwhile, in the city’s free pre-K program, fiscal 2026 enrollment was 55,042 — lower than last year’s 56,950 and considerably less than the administration’s 59,250 target.Mamdani officials explained the drops in enrollment noted in MMR “could be attributed to a disinvestment in family outreach under the last administration, as well as demographic changes including a decrease in birth rate and families leaving the city.”They assured that new investments by the administration “will likely have an impact in the 2026-2027 school year.”When it comes to housing, the report also shines a light on the considerable ground Mamdani needs to make up to make good on his lofty goals announced for city-financed housing construction and presentation.In May, he put forth a target 200,000 new affordable homes created over a decade and 200,000 more preserved.However, over fiscal year 2026, the city financed just 26,913 affordable homes, a nearly 7% slide from the previous year, according to data in the MMR.Hizzoner has also pledged to speed up the city’s lottery for leasing affordable units, but early figures show just 26% of affordable housing lottery projects managed to complete applicant approvals in six months or less, a steep decline over last year’s 41%.T...