![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/55215901894_7f412d3287_c.jpg\")
<\/a>NEW YORK CITY Mayor Zohran Mamdani and former U.S. President Barack Obama read to a group of toddlers at Learning Through Play Pre-K Center in the South Bronx on Saturday, April 18, 2026.\u00a0Photo courtesy of Ed Reed\/Mayoral Photography Office<\/p>\n
Former U.S. President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to Learning Through Play Pre-K Early Childhood Education Center in the South Bronx on Saturday, April 18, alongside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The two read a children\u2019s book to a group of toddlers and also took time to meet with some families. The two leaders also discussed the mayor\u2019s vision for the City, and \u201cthe importance of giving New York\u2019s Cutest the strongest start possible,\u201d in the form of the mayor\u2019s roll-out<\/a>\u00a0of free childcare.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The former president later said of the visit, \u201cGreat spending time with New York City\u2019s Cutest. And thanks to @nycmayor<\/a> for giving me an excuse to break out my best \u2018Wheels on the Bus.’\u201d<\/p>\n As reported,<\/a> in what was described as a major step toward universal childcare for children aged six weeks to five years of age, Mamdani and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on March 3 the first four communities to receive free 2-K seats this fall. Included among them is The Bronx\u2019s School District 10, which covers Fordham, Belmont, Norwood, Marble Hill, Morris Heights, Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil, Van Cortlandt Village and Kingsbridge, as well as parts of Kingsbridge Heights, Bedford Park, Mount Hope, Claremont- Bathgate & East Tremont.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n To highlight the program\u2019s roll-out, the mayor paid a visit<\/a>\u00a0to Bronx Community College\u2019s early childhood center in University Heights on March 6 and later spoke to Norwood News\u00a0about the program. City officials said the 2-K\u00a0program is a cornerstone of the mayor\u2019s universal childcare initiative and will provide free childcare for two-year-olds in New York City to any family who needs it, regardless of zip code, income or immigration status.\u00a0They said the program will launch with 2,000 free seats this fall and expand to full universality within four years.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the former president had previously visited<\/a>\u00a0Bedford Park\u2019s Lehman College in 2015 to promote My Brother\u2019s Keeper Alliance (MBKA), an offshoot of a similar White House initiative of the same name which helps steer young men toward a life of prosperity by focusing on early childhood education.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n During Mamdani\u2019s mayoral general election campaign, as reported<\/a>, he was asked what was discussed during a then-recent call he reportedly had with Obama, to whom Mamdani has been compared<\/a>. The mayor was born in Kampala, Uganda, into an Indian family. His father is academic, Mahmood Mamdani, and his mother, filmmaker, Mira Nair, the director of \u201cMonsoon Wedding,\u201d among other movies. Obama\u2019s father is from Nyang\u2019oma Kogelo in neighboring Kenya in Central East Africa, a 6-hour drive from Kampala.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat call happened soon after the primary,\u201d Mamdani said at the time. \u201cIt was a call that I was honored to receive, and the contents of it were focused on the campaign that we ran, the importance of hope in our politics, and the ways in which we govern to deliver on that. The lessons of that conversation are ones that I hold close to me as we continue to build this campaign to win the general election, and it was an honor to receive that time and those reflections from the former president.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Watch a short video of the mayor\u2019s and the former president\u2019s latest visit to the South Bronx early childhood center on Saturday courtesy of New York City Kopp here<\/a>, and another courtesy of Emma G. Fitzsimmons here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>NEW YORK CITY Mayor Zohran Mamdani and former U.S. President Barack Obama read to a group of toddlers at Learning Through Play Pre-K Center in the South Bronx on Saturday, April 18, 2026.\u00a0
Photo courtesy of Ed Reed\/Mayoral Photography Office<\/p>\n<\/a>NEW YORK CITY Mayor Zohran Mamdani and former U.S. President Barack Obama read to a group of toddlers at Learning Through Play Pre-K Center in the South Bronx on Saturday, April 18, 2026.\u00a0
Photo courtesy of Ed Reed\/Mayoral Photography Office<\/p>\n<\/a>THE BLUE LINE SHOWS the 6-hour, 6-minute car drive route spanning 288 km between Kampala, Uganda, where Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani (A.D. 36) was born, and Nyang\u2019oma Kogelo in Kenya, the hometown of Barack Obama Sr., the father of former Democratic U.S. President Barack Obama. Both Uganda and Kenya border Lake Victoria in Central East Africa.
Image courtesy of Google Maps<\/p>\n