Mayor Eric Adams’ companion Tracey Collins had roughly 40 scheduled conferences and occasions throughout her first eight months following a promotion to a high-level position within the metropolis Training Division, in accordance with day by day calendars obtained by Chalkbeat.
The schedule left about 75% of her days empty and gave little sense of her position or a coherent set of obligations.
It’s not clear what number of of Collins’ day by day obligations had been listed in her calendar. However the scant data raises questions on her position at a time when Collins, a veteran educator and former principal, faces elevated scrutiny after she appeared in a federal indictment of Adams on corruption prices.
Known as Adams’ “Companion” within the indictment, Collins allegedly benefited from tens of 1000’s of {dollars}’ price of journey upgrades from Turkish officers making an attempt to purchase favor with Adams, in accordance with the paperwork. Prosecutors didn’t accuse Collins of any wrongdoing.
Collins was elevated in 2022 to a $221,000-a-year place as senior adviser within the Division of Faculty Management — a virtually $50,000 elevate from her earlier 12 months’s wage, in accordance with payroll information. Her promotion drew fireplace in a New York Publish story that Adams spokesperson Fabien Levy dismissed on the time as a “vile and sexist” smear.
Collins not too long ago switched to senior adviser to deputy chancellor of household and neighborhood engagement Melissa Aviles-Ramos, who Adams named final week as his subsequent Chancellor when David Banks retires Dec. 31.
Final weekend, the Publish surfaced further allegations from a staffer who reportedly filed a criticism with the Battle of Curiosity Board and different investigators that Collins hasn’t appeared in particular person to her job since final Thanksgiving and didn’t sufficiently disclose her journey advantages.
A spokesperson for the workplace of the Particular Commissioner of Investigation for metropolis colleges confirmed they’d acquired a criticism about Collins not displaying up, however declined to supply additional element or say whether or not they’re trying into it.
Requested about Collins at a Tuesday press convention, Adams defended her promotion and work ethic.
“Tracey was an outstanding educator for over 30-something years,” he mentioned. “There was a job emptiness. She filed for it. Being the numerous different of the mayor mustn’t cease your observe.”
He added: “Tracey does her job and he or she does it effectively.”
Training Division spokesperson Nathaniel Styer added that her job contains “strategic planning, making suggestions on company priorities, and offering recommendation and help to senior management.”
Some conferences could also be redacted from schedules obtained by way of public information request, officers mentioned.
Outgoing Chancellor Banks is a longtime buddy of Adams whose personal romantic companion and brother function deputy mayors. Banks additionally employed Adams’ sister-in-law, Sharon, final Might, THE CITY reported.
Collins didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
As a senior adviser within the Division of Faculty Management, Collins held a high-level position in a bit of the Training Division that consolidated important energy below Banks. The division oversees all 45 district superintendents and assumed oversight of Banks’ signature literacy and math curriculum initiatives after Banks disbanded the division beforehand main these efforts.
The division additionally noticed a management shakeup in 2023, when deputy chancellor Desmond Blackburn left after only a 12 months within the job and was changed by Danika Rux.
A job description for a task matching Collins’ from 2022 notes that the place was solely open to candidates from inside the Training Division. It describes the position as a “key member” of the deputy chancellor’s management staff accountable for managing partnerships with outdoors teams.
A job description obtained by Chalkbeat for Collins’ present position working for Aviles-Ramos matches the outline for her earlier position phrase for phrase, aside from reporting to a distinct deputy chancellor.
Her schedule listed 5 occasions associated to superintendent “scorching seats” — a Banks innovation meant to topic district leaders to extra scrutiny over their information and college efficiency. A number of of the recent seat occasions additionally embody “mindfulness” workout routines, a precedence for each Banks and Adams.
Collins had a number of one-on-one conferences with officers carefully concerned within the division’s response to the inflow of migrant college students.
She met one-on-one with Flavia Puello-Pardomo, who oversees the division’s College students in Momentary Housing division. She additionally sat down with Aviles-Ramos, who led Mission Open Arms, town’s interagency effort to coordinate companies for migrant kids.
Different gadgets on Collins’ schedule appeared a bit additional outdoors the purview of the division of faculty management, together with a number of conferences associated to highschool meals — a high precedence of Adams, a zealous advocate for wholesome consuming who launched plant-powered Fridays to metropolis college cafeterias.
Collins had a one-on-one assembly with Chris Tricarico, the pinnacle of the Workplace of Faculty Meals and Vitamin Providers in August, 2022, in accordance with her schedule. In February 2023, she joined Tricarico on the metropolis’s college meals take a look at kitchen in Queens for a session on a chef council creating new recipes, in accordance with the calendar.
This story has been up to date with data from the Training Division about Collins’ present position and job description.
Alex Zimmerman contributed.
Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, protecting NYC public colleges. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.
