BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — It's a super holiday surprise for these students.
The Brooklyn Nets' own superhero mascot the BrooklyKnight visited students of P.S. 23 in Bed-Stuy Friday morning as part of a Nets-sponsored program to donate trees to six public schools across Brooklyn.
Principal Celina Napolitano, who is from Williamsburg and has worked in School District 14 since 1976, said she originally thought the phone call from the team was a hoax.
"Anyone who knows me knows Christmas is my favorite holiday," Napolitano said. "I thought it was Z100 playing a trick on me."
Dozens of kids cheered and waved as the shining black-and-silver superhero walked into the building's lobby with a tree slung over his shoulder, and each one got to add their own homemade ornaments and high-five the mascot.
The school was the first stop of the day for members of the Nets and local tree delivery service Tyler's Trees. The group also visited Bed-Stuy's P.S. 157 and P.S. 93, Vinegar Hill's P.S. 307, Park Slope's P.S. 282 and Prospect Heights' P.S. 9.
P.S. 23, at 545 Willoughby Ave., has a large population of underserved children from the area, some of whom aren't able to celebrate during the holidays, Napolitano said.
"This school is definitely the neediest of the three schools I've been in," Napolitano said. "Our children need to feel at home in our school."
