Mamdani unveils $15M taxpayer-funded plan to expand trans care for youths across NYC
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a $15 million plan to expand transgender medical services for youths and adults across New York City, as local hospital systems have shuttered their treatment programs amid mounting pressure from the Trump administration.
The taxpayer-funded initiative appears to be a scaled-down version of Mamdani’s campaign promise to spend $65 million on medical treatments for transgender New Yorkers, and will go toward establishing a fund to ensure Big Apple youths will retain access to those services.
“Every New Yorker should have the freedom to live as themselves and access the health care they need,” Mamdani said in a statement Friday.
“As the federal government attacks transgender people and attempts to intimidate patients, families and providers, New York City is stepping up,” he said. “We will protect care, support the providers delivering it and make clear that trans New Yorkers belong in this city. Health care is a human right, and we will do everything in our power to defend it.”
The funds, which will be doled out over two years, will also be used to establish a phone and text hotline for transgender New Yorkers seeking information about care, services or other resources and support.
However, notably, the money won’t be used to launch new trans medical services for minors – such as hormone therapy and puberty blockers – through the city’s own providers.
NYU Langone Health and Mount Sinai Health System both put the brakes on offering trans medical care to patients under 18 after the Trump administration made moves to yank federal funding from healthcare institutions offering such treatment to minors.
NYU Langone shuttered its transgender youth program in February, citing the “current regulatory environment.”
Mount Sinai stopped offering trans healthcare for those under 18 just days later, notifying affected patients over the phone, Gothamist reported at the time.
Both healthcare systems have since received federal grand jury subpoenas seeking “information pertaining to patients under the age of 18 who received gender affirming care” between 2020 and 2026 – along with the names of any staff members who performed the treatments.
But a federal judge last week granted an injunction blocking the Justice Department from accessing sensitive medical records of trans patients through subpoena.
The city Law Department had filed an amicus brief earlier this month on behalf of trans young people in support of a legal challenge opposing the subpoenas seeking patient medical records.
The mayor himself has directed the Law Department to be prepared to respond – and go to court if necessary – to defend against threats to curtail trans medical treatment for minors.