Toddlers in New York City public schools and daycares are finally able to shed their masks — and show their smiles — indoors beginning Monday.

The end of the controversial mandate for 2-to-4-year-olds was announced by Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday — just two weeks before the end of the school year.

Parents of youngsters in that age group welcomed the news that masks will now be optional for their kids, but questioned why it took so long to lift the restriction, which ended in neighboring New Jersey three months ago.

“I don’t understand the timing,” Tamara Bedorssian, an Upper West Side mother of a 4–year-old boy, told The Post on Sunday.

“The mayor said at the very beginning that the reason that they had to keep wearing masks was because the vaccine was ineligible for them and that didn’t magically change for Monday,” she noted.

The mom added she was “happy it happened,” but, “I just have no idea what was behind it.”

“It’s almost a joke,” Bedorssian continued, noting her son “was masked for his whole entire school experience to date, which was the last two years.”

“So the fact that they lifted [now] is just kind of an insult to all parents,” said Bedrossian.

Sumayya Ahmad — a 37-year-old Upper East Side doctor and mother of two kids, ages 3 and 2 — told The Post on Sunday she also felt relieved.

But she blasted what she saw as a “purely political decision” instead of a “scientific” one for Adams’ 11th-hour announcement, made weeks ahead of the June 27 final day of classes in Big Apple public schools, noting that vaccines are not yet approved for the age group.

However, while toddlers no longer have to mask up in schools and daycares, masks and proof-of-vaccination are still required in certain settings.

Here is what you need to to know:

New Yorkers will still need to mask up on public transit — including trains, buses, taxis and other ride-share services — regardless of vaccination status.

Despite the federal government in April dropping mask mandates for airports, planes and other transportation modes after a federal judge’s ruling, Gov. Kathy Hochul opted to keep it for public transit in New York State.

However, Hochul on Thursday hinted that a “conversation” about ending the public transit mask-wearing regulation would happen “soon,” while declining to provide a specific time frame for pulling the trigger.

Meanwhile, congregate-care settings, such as nursing homes, correctional facilities and homeless shelters are also still subject to state mask-wearing requirements.

Face coverings must also still be worn in healthcare settings, such as hospitals. 

Private establishments like restaurants and museums can still require patrons and workers to mask up at their own discretion.

Theatergoers are required to be vaccinated and wear masks to attend Broadway shows through June 30.  

Gov. Hochul lifted the state’s business mask mandate in early February.

Later in the month, she announced she was doing away with the requirement for public schools across New York state, and that local governments would be empowered to set their own school mask mandates.

In March, Mayor Adams put an end to the mask mandate for public school kids old enough to be inoculated against the coronavirus.

Hizzoner then finally nixed the mandate for kids ages 2-to-4 on Thursday after in April saying he wanted to let kids learn without their faces covered.

His decision followed weeks of outcry from fed-up parents.

New Yorkers no longer have to provide proof of vaccination for indoor venues such as restaurants, gyms and movie theaters after Mayor Adams scrapped the “Key to NYC” program.

The proof-of-vaccination program was introduced by former Mayor Bill de Blasio in late summer 2021 amid a surge of infections.

Last week, officials also announced that MTA and other state agencies will no longer require employees who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 to test weekly for the virus.

Mayor Adams has so far maintained Big Apple policies set by his predecessor that dictate both municipal and private-sector employees must be vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter their workplaces.

The city defines “workplaces” as any location — including a vehicle — where a person works in the presence of at least one other person. 

Fines for non-compliant businesses start at $1,000, and are increased upon subsequent infractions, though Adams has indicated he is not telling city inspectors to perform strict enforcement of the rule.

There are notable exceptions to the rule, however. In late March, Adams exempted the city’s professional athletes and performers from the private-sector worker COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The decision came after the restriction prevented the Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving from playing in home games, and was set to bar unvaccinated Mets and Yankees players from taking the field in the Bronx and Queens in April.

However, he kept the remainder of private-sector inoculation regulations in place — and kept requiring shots for municipal workers like firefighters, teachers, sanitation workers and cops.

New York City’s COVID-19 positivity rate is 7.56%, according to the most recent seven-day rolling average released last week.

The figure represents a decline from the more than 9% recorded in mid-May — but is up significantly from the below 3% positivity rates reported in April, city health department data shows.

Meanwhile, an average of 57 New Yorkers are hospitalized each week with COVID-19, according to the seven-day rolling average — a decline from the 112 in late May, but still slightly higher than at this point last month.

Department of health figures show that the Big Apple averages eight COVID-19 deaths per day — higher than the spring, but markedly lower than during the peak of the pandemic, or during the winter Omicron wave.

City data shows that more than 78% of New Yorkers of all ages are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and that 88% of adults have received at least two shots. Roughly 98% of adult residents have gotten at least one jab, according to the latest figures.