What can Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and former President Barack Obama do when they get together? We don’t know how they would tackle the complex nuances of U.S. politics, but this past weekend they totally nailed storytime at an early childhood education center in the South Bronx this past weekend
The 44th president and 112th mayor read “Alone & Together” by Émilie Chazerand, a picture book that emphasizes community cooperation and unity, to the class.
“Alone we dream, together we imagine,” read Mamdani, as he turned the pages of the book.
In between fielding a barrage of questions from the 3-and 4-year old toddlers, Mamdani and Obama sang songs and posed for photos on Saturday afternoon at the Learning Through Play Pre-K Center. The kids even serenaded the two politicians and their teachers with a rendition of K-Pop Demon Hunters’ “Soda Pop.”
Mamdani has been pushing his universal childcare rollout for months, which includes expanded 2-K and 3-K seats across the city. The city also recently announced seven new early childhood education centers will open this Fall. The sites, previously vacant, are part of the first phase of the 3-K expansion announced last month for the 2026–27 school year.
“Thank you to everybody that’s doing this terrific program. This is what we need, an investment in these amazing kids,” said Obama as he exited the school. The Obama Foundation also announced a recent partnership with After School Matters to provide youth programming at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago when it opens in June.