New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a $15 million plan to expand transgender medical services for youth and adults across the city. This taxpayer-funded initiative aims to preserve access to care as local hospital systems have ceased offering such treatments for minors under pressure from the Trump administration.
The plan is a modified version of Mamdani's campaign pledge to allocate $65 million for transgender healthcare. The newly announced funds will establish a dedicated resource to ensure young New Yorkers can continue to receive necessary medical services. Mamdani stated that the city is stepping up to protect transgender individuals and providers as the federal government targets them.
"Every New Yorker should have the freedom to live as themselves and access the health care they need," Mamdani said in a statement. "As the federal government attacks transgender people and attempts to intimidate patients, families and providers, New York City is stepping up. 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 initiative will also fund a phone and text hotline to assist transgender New Yorkers in finding information about care, services, and support resources.
The decision by NYU Langone Health and Mount Sinai Health System to halt transgender medical care for patients under 18 was prompted by federal actions aimed at revoking funding from institutions providing such treatments to minors. Both hospital systems have since reportedly received federal grand jury subpoenas requesting information on patients under 18 who received gender-affirming care between 2020 and 2026, as well as the names of staff involved.
NYU Langone specifically cited the "current regulatory environment" when it closed its transgender youth program in February.