The New York City Council has asked the Mamdani administration to address key issues in the vision of universal child care, including hiring enough teachers and cutting through bureaucracy. The hearing also highlighted high turnover and bureaucratic delays in the city’s early childhood system. The mayor, who ran on a campaign promise to expand free child care to babies as young as 6 weeks, received funding from Gov. Hochul earlier this year to expand child care for 2-year-olds, and protect families from losing child care vouchers at their chosen programs. Emmy Liss, executive director of the Mayor's Office of Child Care, said her team is working to make it easier for providers to meet regulatory requirements and significantly increase the number of trained professionals working in child care. The plan includes expanding the program to 12,000 seats in the 2027-28 school year.