Summary of "Mayor Mamdani Holds a Press Conference to Make an Announcement"

Overview

Mayor Mamdani announced a retooled Mayor’s Fund and launched a new Child Care Action Fund as part of a broader push to expand public–private partnerships to advance the administration’s affordability and family-support agenda.

Key announcements and goals

Leadership and governance
- Chief of Staff L. Bisgard Church was named chair of the Mayor’s Fund board.
- Kate Smith will remain executive director of the Mayor’s Fund through the transition.
- New board members are drawn from diverse, working-New Yorker backgrounds.
- The administration pledged annual public disclosure of donors and donations.
Child Care Action Fund
- Purpose: build infrastructure to support the administration’s push toward universal child care.
- Fundraising target: $20 million in 2026.
- Early commitments: more than $3.5 million announced at the event.
Five funding priorities for the Child Care Action Fund
1. Family outreach and engagement
2. Direct support for child care providers
3. Workforce development
4. Physical capacity building (space)
5. Research and innovation
Role of philanthropy
- The mayor framed philanthropy as a “turbo boost” for government initiatives:
  
  Philanthropy will pilot and test innovations government can scale, and fill medium- and long-term gaps not covered by immediate public funding.

Funders and early commitments

Major announced commitments include a $3 million investment from the Margaret (Margarite) Casey Foundation.
Additional supporters named: New York City Forward Fund, Robin Hood, The New York Community Trust, and The New York Foundation.
Several philanthropic coalitions and foundations involved with the mayoral transition were also mentioned.

Q&A — main follow-ups and policy points

Review of prior Mayor’s Fund commitments
- The new board will review past commitments and allocations from the previous administration and will report back.
990 and donor transparency
- The administration said it will provide donor disclosures annually but deferred a detailed answer about updating past 990 filings.
Board of advisors
- The board of directors will consider naming a broader board of advisors; announcements will follow.
Relation to state funding for child care
- The Fund is intended to supplement the governor’s $1.2 billion investment by addressing immediate needs, piloting innovations, supporting providers, building workforce and physical capacity, and covering program elements not included in the state package.
Secondary / nonresident property tax proposal
- The mayor praised a proposal taxing secondary properties owned by nonresident owners (framed as raising roughly $500 million/year) as a commonsense step to raise revenue from very wealthy nonresident owners and said city experts are confident in its administration and collection.
Police and accountability
- Regarding newly released body-camera footage in the death of Adrien Cados: the mayor called for public access to footage, said investigations are ongoing, noted involved detectives are on modified duty, and emphasized concern for the injured person’s health and longstanding community safety concerns.
Other city issues
- The mayor is reviewing two City Council “buffer zone” bills and will decide by the statutory deadline.
- He criticized high sports ticket prices and urged team owners to make access more affordable.
- He reiterated criticism of his predecessor’s handling of the city’s fiscal situation, citing a $12 billion deficit he attributes to prior administration decisions.

Presenters / contributors (named at the event)

Mayor Mamdani (Mayor)
L. Bisgard Church (Chief of Staff; new Chair, Mayor’s Fund board)
Kate Smith (Executive Director, Mayor’s Fund)
Julie Chen (Institutional Giving Manager, CAV / Organizing Asian Communities)
Christina Cover (English teacher and literacy coordinator, Bronx public high school)
Shawn Morehead (Executive Vice President & Chief Program Officer, The New York Community Trust)
Ricky Manzala (President, The New York Foundation)
Javier Valdez (U.S. Director of Civic Engagement & Government, Ford Foundation)
Tony Pearlstein (Organizer, UAW; former Longshore worker)
Dr. Carmen Rohas / Carmen Rohas (identified as President & CEO, Margaret Casey Foundation)
Elizabeth Guy (co-chair, New York City Forward Fund)

Also referenced

Margaret (Margarite) Casey Foundation; New York City Forward Fund; Robin Hood; The New York Community Trust; The New York Foundation; Governing America Fund; Freedom Together Fund; Sherman Foundation.