Mamdani and Obama meet face-to-face in New York City | CNN Politics

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with former President Barack Obama on Saturday at a childcare center in the Bronx. During their first in person meeting, Mamdani and Obama greeted children and parents inside the early childhood education center and joined a group of students who sat on the floor as Obama and Mamdani read to them from a children’s book. “In between singing wheels on the bus, the two leaders discussed the Mayor’s vision for the City and the importance of giving New York’s Cutest the strongest start possible,” Mamdani press secretary Joe Calvello said in a statement. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, ran on a promise to create New York City’s first universal childcare program. As part of that effort, Mamdani’s administration has secured state funding to expand the current universal pre-K program across the city and to extend childcare for a limited number of two year olds beginning next fall. Obama and Mamdani held a brief meeting in private prior to joining the classroom for the reading event, according to a source familiar with the planning. The person said Mamdani and Obama’s team had been eager to set up a meeting between both leaders since