Mayor Mamdani Hits a Serious Snag on His Plans for NYC's Socialist Utopia

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been insisting since his election that government can provide everything to everyone in the Big Apple for free - no strings attached. One of those wished-for signature programs is universal childcare.

Along the way, Hizzoner got a major assist from children's entertainer and YouTuber Ms. Rachel in pushing this government takeover. 

And at our sister site Townhall, Amy Curtis writes Saturday on the radical left activist edu-tainer managing to guess wrong once again to stay in line with the prevailing woke message on race.

My colleague Kyle Becker previously wrote about the bad news for Mamdani on the childcare program, after some of his other announced socialist pipe dream projects like free buses, government grocery stores, and unbelievably, even government-subsidized babysitters at city parks show they are less than viable:

But there's more bad news for The Zohran. Another pie-in-the-sky project is running into trouble already, and it cuts to the core of one of Mamdani's campaign promises: universal childcare.

New Yorkers pining for a cost-effective way to fund Nannies-for-All are going to be grossly disappointed. 

The New York Post says the cost overrun would be billions higher than the mayor promised.

How can this be, readers? Well, reportedly, they ran into trouble - a $3 billion shortfall - caused by what was budgeted to pay the teachers AKA government nannies.

Now Mamdani's plan seems to have hit an even more serious snag, according to a story published Saturday by The New York Times, on the verge of its scheduled start date:

Recommended

Funding issues and late payments are threatening the rollout of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s free child care system for 2-year-olds, two weeks before the program is scheduled to begin, day care providers said.

Many early childhood centers have yet to receive funding to buy classroom furniture and basic supplies like pencils and paper, or to pay newly hired teachers and assistants. Without the money, several providers have warned parents that the centers will not open when school starts on Sept. 10.

And all the city can do is draw on more taxpayer dollars for loans, when it can manage to get that right:

Because of the delays, city officials had encouraged providers to apply for interest-free bridge loans from the city — not just for 2-K programs but also for 3-K and pre-K programs. But many of those who have applied for the loans say that money has not arrived either, forcing them to take out high-interest personal loans, borrow from relatives and drain their personal savings.

One of the daycare owners in the Bronx, Nurita Love said it's a logistical nightmare, and the city is not prepared: “Yes, they have a 2-K program, but they didn’t set up the infrastructure to make it work," she said.

The monthly expenses at Ms. Love’s centers exceed $320,000, she said. Without city funds, Ms. Love said, she decided to take out a personal loan and a reverse mortgage on her house to pay her employees, utilities and insurance.

 And what does Mamdani's office have to say, to quell the operators' fears over this? 

Spokeswoman Jenna Lyle said in a statement, “These delays are unacceptable, and we are going to fix them. The Mamdani administration is working around the clock to ensure child care providers have the funding they need by the first day of school.”

What a disaster.

Such a shame to see this happening, isn't it? Another promise of government largesse blowing up in Zohran Mamdani's face - and it's unlikely to be the last time these inflated socialist promises will fall flat for the Democrats.