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Mamdani and Hochul are Looking Cozy. Can it Last?

A sweeping child care expansion and opposition to President Trump have united them, but significant divisions remain.

Sam Mellins · January 15, 2026

| Photos: Office of Governor Kathy Hochul; Office of Mayor Zohran Mamdani | Illustration: New York Focus

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Since Governor Kathy Hochul endorsed New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in September, the unlikely allies have presented a united front. That dynamic continued during and after Hochul’s annual State of the State speech Tuesday, which laid out an agenda that had significant overlap with Mamdani’s campaign promises — but also key differences.

Mamdani campaigned on making child care universal and free in New York City. On Tuesday, Hochul reiterated her pledges to put billions of dollars toward child care for children as young as 2 in the city, and expand child care vouchers and pre-K funding across the state.

Mamdani, who as an assemblymember often criticized Hochul, hailed her after the speech for “transforming the lives” of New York City’s children and “making our state affordable for thousands of parents.”

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“I truly appreciate the partnership that I have with Governor Hochul,” he told reporters.

Hochul, a longtime proponent of boosting the state’s housing supply, also got support on that front from Mamdani, who has become more vocally YIMBY since running for mayor. Hochul proposed loosening some aspects of the state’s environmental review law, which can delay the construction of new housing by years.

Mamdani said on Tuesday that he is on board with the plan and “excited by her efforts to lift burdensome regulations so that we can expand our housing supply.”

What makes the harmony possible may be their individual personalities. “If you look at Kathy Hochul and Mayor Mamdani, they’re people who understand how dangerous it is to let your ego run amok,” said former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

For all the pair’s attempts to emphasize common ground, there are still some noteworthy sticking points. Mamdani declined to support Hochul’s proposal to ban protests within 25 feet of houses of worship, saying he wanted to review it with the city’s legal team before taking a stance. And Hochul didn’t mention Mamdani’s signature proposal to make New York City buses free to ride during her speech.

Their biggest divide is on the question of taxes. Hochul has said that the child care investments, announced alongside Mamdani last week, can be accomplished without new taxes, though it’s not yet clear where the funding for the governor’s plan would come from. Mamdani said that raising taxes on wealthy New Yorkers and companies “continues to be a critical part” of his agenda, and his allies still plan to push Hochul hard on the issue.

And while Hochul has criticized the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies, she hasn’t endorsed New York for All, a bill that would bar local police departments from collaborating with ICE officers. Mamdani’s campaign platform said he intends to push for the bill to be enacted.

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Other divides between the two have garnered less public attention. To help fulfill his pledge of adding 200,000 units of affordable housing, Mamdani wants Albany to allow New York City to issue $70 billion worth of bonds beyond the city’s current legal limits. Hochul’s list of proposals didn’t mention this idea, and state housing commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas declined to comment on it when asked by New York Focus.

For now, though, Mamdani and his allies are touting their agreement on child care.

“A lot of us thought we’d spend the entire budget process fighting to get that fully funded, but now we already have an offer from the governor,” said Senator Jabari Brisport, a close ally of Mamdani’s and part of the state legislature’s eight-member socialist caucus.

Even some of Mamdani’s onetime political opponents appreciate his focus on child care. Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato — who endorsed Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary — said the child care expansion “is one of the greatest programs we could do for families and for children.”

But representing the car-centric Rockaway Peninsula in south Queens means she’s “not a fan” of Mamdani’s free bus proposal.

“We like our cars, so I’m going to advocate for car driving and gas guzzling,” she said.

He’s sure to get full-throated support, on the other hand, from fellow socialists in the state legislature — and to amplify their voices.

Before this year, “maybe we were at the table, but not at the center of the table,” Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha told New York Focus.

Since the election, many Albany insiders seem newly eager to get close to the socialists, said Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes.

“I have friends now that I didn’t know I had made.”