As city agencies ramp up preparations for Thursday’s historic ticker-tape parade celebrating the Knicks’ second NBA championship in 53 years — and the first ticker-tape parade in franchise history — Mayor Zohran Mamdani visited the Nat Azarow Children’s Center in Brownsville on June 15, where he joined pre-K students in putting the finishing touches on a large banner decorated with basketballs and hoops and emblazoned with the phrases “KNICKS IN FIVE!!!” and “2K For All.”

Ahead of the mayor’s arrival, Dr. Ashley Williams, executive director of the Brooklyn Kindergarten Society (BKS), which manages seven children’s centers in northern Brooklyn, including Nat Azarow Children’s Center, told Brooklyn Paper that while she was excited about the mayor’s visit, she was even more excited that BKS was among the early childhood education providers selected for the city’s 2-K program that Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced in March.

“The kids are super ecstatic. Not only did the Knicks win, but the mayor is also joining, and they are hoping to participate in creating a banner as well,” Dr. Williams said, noting that the classroom capacity for 2-K was 12 students.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani (left) and Assembly Member Latrice Walker (right) helped putting the finished touches on the Knicks banner. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann

Emmy Liss, Mamdani’s executive director of child care and early childhood education, told Brooklyn Paper it was an “incredible” time to be in New York City — not only because of the Knicks’ historic win, but also because enrollment for 2,000 2-K seats in five New York City school districts opened June 2: District 6 in Manhattan, District 10 in the Bronx, Districts 18 and 23 in Brooklyn, and District 27 in Queens.

“The application is open until June 26, and so we’re encouraging all families with children who were born in 2024 to go online and apply now at myschools.nyc, and to make sure that they can get a 2k seat for this fall,” Liss said, noting that the goal is to serve 2,000 children this year as the Mamdani administration plans to expand to 12,000 seats next year and reach universal access within four years.

Photo by Gabriele Holtermann

Meanwhile, Mamdani and the Knicks’ youngest fans perfected the banner, which will be displayed on one of the parade floats Thursday, adding blue and orange handprints. Five-year-old Kyle Matthews, who partnered with Hizzoner on the art project and also presented Mamdani with a friendship bracelet in the Knicks’ colors, told the Brooklyn Paper that he was “super excited” that the Knicks won and that he was “happy” to have gotten to collaborate with the mayor.

State Sen. Jabari Brisport and Assembly Member Latrice Walker stressed the significance of pairing an art event celebrating the Knicks with the rollout of the 2-K program.

“It’s a chance to show that our education can be current and fun for our youth, so it’s combining all the great things that are happening under this mayoral administration; 2K but also the Knicks winning a tournament in decades,” Brisport, whose district includes parts of Brownsville, said. ” I think it builds off of some things that people were frustrated about in the initial outlets of Universal Pre-K and 3-K, in that it is full day, full year, and also that it’s very deeply integrated with existing providers like Brooklyn Kindergarten Society.”

Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined Pre-K students in Brownsville in putting the finished touches on a Knicks banner. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann

Walker, who pointed out that the Knicks had not won an NBA championship since before she was born, said early childhood education leads to long-term positive outcomes.

“This is an amazing new initiative with 2-K; the earlier the better. We know that the earlier we invest in our babies, the more magical our outcomes are,” Walker said. “We are in a process now of tearing down generational bad press as it relates to our educational scores here in District 23, and this, quite frankly, is the antidote to making sure that we have the scores that we need in years to come.”