{"id":101616,"date":"2025-07-29T08:35:26","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T08:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/101616\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T08:35:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T08:35:26","slug":"cuomo-claims-credit-for-nycs-universal-pre-k-program-stoking-outrage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/101616\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuomo claims credit for NYC’s universal pre-K program, stoking outrage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo claimed credit Monday for the creation of New York City\u2019s universal pre-K program<\/a>, an initiative that\u2019s widely viewed as the brainchild of his longtime political nemesis, ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio.<\/p>\n

Cuomo, who\u2019s running as an independent candidate in November\u2019s election<\/a> for New York City mayor, staked out his position during an appearance on WNYC after being asked if he agrees de Blasio spearheaded the 2014 launch of the popular early childhood education program.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, he didn\u2019t,\u201d replied Cuomo, who as governor frequently clashed<\/a> with de Blasio. \u201cThe state did it \u2014 I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s universal pre-K program<\/a>, which provides free full-day child care for every 4-year-old in the five boroughs, got off the ground in September 2014 after de Blasio made it the main objective of his early days as mayor.<\/p>\n

Administered by the city Department of Education, the program\u2019s launch was undergirded by a hefty tranche of funding<\/a> included in that year\u2019s state budget, meaning Albany played a key role in getting the initiative across the finish line. However, the program itself was proposed and designed by de Blasio\u2019s administration, and the former mayor has long said Albany, including then-Gov. Cuomo, only came around to backing a state funding increase after relentless advocacy from his City Hall team.<\/p>\n

Asked for clarity on Cuomo\u2019s radio comments, his spokesman Rich Azzopardi said the ex-governor was referring to a small-scale pre-K pilot program he launched on the state level in 2013 before de Blasio became mayor. Azzopardi also took a shot at de Blasio for initially pushing Albany for a state-level tax increase<\/a> on the wealthy to bankroll the universal pre-K program.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis point was that de Blasio wanted a tax increase for the sake of a tax increase, and Gov. Cuomo was able to build upon the pilot program he launched prior to de Blasio\u2019s election and deliver those pre-K slots not only to the city, but also the rest of the state with existing resources,\u201d Azzopardi said.<\/p>\n

De Blasio didn\u2019t immediately return a request for comment Monday.<\/p>\n

\"MayorMayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza announce 3,257 families are receiving offers to free, full-day, high-quality 3-K for All across six community school districts, May 23, 2018. (Ed Reed \/ Mayoral Photography Office)<\/p>\n

Some de Blasio defenders stepped in to accuse Cuomo of rewriting history in light of his radio remarks.<\/p>\n

City Council Finance Committee Chairman Justin Brannan, who as a senior city Department of Education official helped with the rollout of universal pre-K, said Cuomo\u2019s comments made him feel like his \u201chead is going to explode.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I built the Verrazzano Bridge with my bare hands,\u201d Brannan added.<\/p>\n

\u201cAndrew Cuomo lives in his own reality. Facts don\u2019t matter,\u201d Ana Maria Archila, the New York Working Families Party\u2019s co-director, piled on in a post on X<\/a>. \u201cHe makes up stories and then just expects people to fall in line.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a press conference held this past April to celebrate a funding increase for the pre-K program, de Blasio hinted at the grueling battle his administration got into with Cuomo\u2019s administration in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to Albany, and I found a door that was closed quite often and a lack of support \u2014 and we had to fight and fight and fight to finally get what our children deserved,\u201d he said at that press conference. \u201cYou either stand for early childhood education or you don\u2019t, and I just think everyone\u2019s record should be remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2014 feud is reemerging at a time Cuomo faces a deja vu of sorts over policies related to taxation and childcare \u2014 albeit from a very different angle.<\/p>\n

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor<\/a> who\u2019s polling as the favorite to win November\u2019s election, has proposed vastly expanding free childcare in the city so that kids between the ages of 6 weeks and 5 years are entitled to it. In order to fund such a drastic expansion, Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has proposed increasing taxes on corporations and millionaires.<\/p>\n

Cuomo and other critics of Mamdani, including Mayor Adams, who\u2019s also running as an independent in November\u2019s election, have argued Mamdani\u2019s proposals are unrealistic, saying, in particular, that there\u2019s no way Gov. Hochul and state lawmakers will agree to tax hikes next year.<\/p>\n

In his WNYC appearance, Cuomo \u2014 who raised taxes on millionaires in 2021 \u2014 reiterated his belief that Mamdani wouldn\u2019t be able to secure any tax hikes in Albany in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is not going to happen,\u201d said Cuomo, who resigned as governor in August 2021<\/a> amid sexual and professional misconduct accusations he denies.<\/p>\n

With Cayla Bamberger\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Originally Published: July 28, 2025 at 2:17 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo claimed credit Monday for the creation of New York City\u2019s universal pre-K program, an…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":101617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,5297,21481,5289,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,66059,68,2969,5301],"class_list":{"0":"post-101616","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-andrew-cuomo","10":"tag-bill-de-blasio","11":"tag-eric-adams","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkcity","16":"tag-ny","17":"tag-nyc","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-universal-pre-k","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-usa","25":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114935610109375431","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}