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Mamdani and Obama make first joint appearance at Bronx child care center
By
Brigid Bergin
Published Apr 18, 2026
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Brigid Bergin/Gothamist
By
Brigid Bergin
Published Apr 18, 2026
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani and former President Barack Obama visited an early childhood education center in the South Bronx on Saturday.
As the two leaders entered the pre-K classroom, a group of 19 students dressed in blue and plaid school uniforms let out squeals upon seeing Mamdani. Their teachers, who knew the mayor was coming but not his special guest, gasped at the sight of the 44th president of the United States.
“My name’s Barack,” the president said, introducing himself to the children. As the two men took seats in front of the kids, the children started shouting out their own names, and with one boy shouting out, “I know who you are, you are Mamdani.”
During the event, which was first reported by Politico, Mamdani and Obama read to the students and joined them in a rousing rendition of the “Wheels of the Bus.” Before meeting with the children, they discussed Mamdani's affordability-focused vision for the city — including universal child care, according to the mayor.
Obama and Mamdani did not take questions.
This marks their first face-to-face meeting and comes months after Obama called Mamdani just before Election Day in November. The former president praised Mamdani's campaign and offered to be a sounding board if he won the election. During the Bronx event, there was also a clear chemistry between Mamdani and Obama, who interacted with the children and teased each other with ease.
The meeting also comes as Mamdani navigates his relationship with the current Republican president. Relations between the mayor and President Donald Trump had been surprisingly friendly since Mamdani’s election. But on Thursday, Trump accused Mamdani of "destroying New York" after news of a proposal for a pied-a-terre tax on the ultra-rich.
Mamdani and Obama read the book “Alone and Together,” written by Émilie Chazerand and illustrated by Amandine Piu. The story focuses on the power of community and how people are stronger when they work together, a message that seemed picked especially for Obama, a one-time community organizer, and Mamdani, a democratic socialist, who traded lines page by page as they read.
After reading, it was time for a sing-along.
“ I'm gonna ask my friend, the president, to also join me in this,” Mamdani said before singing.
“Who’s the president?” Obama asked the kids, most of whom were not alive when he was in office. “I am!” one shouted. “He is, Mamdani,” another said, triggering an eruption of tiny giggles from the children.
As he departed the classroom, Obama shook hands with all the teachers and staff in the room, and stopped to greet the young son of one of the reporters covering the event.
“This is what we need,” Obama said while leaving the classroom, “making an investment in these amazing kids.”
Obama’s appearance in the Bronx was a tightly kept secret. Neither the teachers at the school nor the parents of the children, who were in a separate room, knew he would be there with the mayor.
After Mamdani and Obama left the children’s classroom, they went to greet the parents. Another set of screams could be heard across the hall.
Tagged
Politics
the bronx
Brigid Bergin
Brigid Bergin is an award-winning senior reporter on the People and Power desk. She is fiercely committed to telling stories that help people engage and support democracy. In 2022, she hosted a live, ten-week call-in politics show ahead of the midterm elections called The People's Guide to Power. Brigid's reporting in 2017 included some of the first coverage of a political newcomer now known as AOC. In 2016, she broke the news of a voter purge in Brooklyn just days before New York’s presidential primary, triggering city, state and federal investigations. Brigid also guest hosts The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. She graduated from the University at Albany and the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-723-4719.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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