Schools Chancellor David Banks will resign months before his recently announced retirement in the face of federal investigations that have swept through Mayor Eric Adams’ istration, a mayoral spokesperson said late Wednesday.
The new chancellor, Melissa Aviles-Ramos, will now start Oct. 16 “to prioritize the needs of our students,” according to City Hall.
“In advancing this mission, it became clear that our students will be best served by having the same leadership through as much of the school year as possible, rather than changing chancellors halfway through,” mayoral spokesperson Amaris Cockfield wrote in a statement.
“We have decided to accelerate the start date of Chancellor Aviles-Ramos to October 16th so that she can immediately begin executing on her vision for New York City Public Schools.”
At a press conference announcing Aviles-Ramos as the incoming head of schools last week, Banks spoke about the importance of sticking around for a few months to smooth the transition — and had said he would step down on New Years Eve.
“Continuity matters. Stability matters. So even as I have now made this announcement, I’m not leaving tomorrow,” he said on Sept. 25.
“The mayor and I have talked now for the last several months about this plan that I planned on leaving by the end of this calendar year. But making a way for Melissa, who we identified as the person who could do this.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Education referred questions about the chancellor to City Hall.
In a statement sent Thursday by The TASC Group, a private public-relations firm retained by Banks, he said he was “ready, willing and able to stay in my post until December 31st to conduct a responsible transition for our staff. The mayor has decided to accelerate that timeline.”
Banks’ sudden departure comes days after the mayor pleaded not guilty in federal court following an indictment on corruption, bribery and other charges. And Adams appeared in court for the second time on Wednesday in a hearing where prosecutors said “additional defendants will be charged in this scheme.”
Last month, Banks’ cell phones were seized by federal authorities along with his brothers, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks and Terence Banks, a former MTA employee who is now a government-relations consultant.
The outgoing chancellor’s now-wife, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, also had her cell phones seized as part of a federal probe. It’s unclear if that investigation is tied to last month’s indictment against the mayor.
Meanwhile, Wright and Banks got married somewhat unexpectedly last weekend on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
The announcement of a quicker exit also comes two days after the resignation of senior Adams aide Tim Pearson, whose phones were seized by the feds on the same day as the Bankses.
Earlier on Wednesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul, who could remove the mayor from office, said Pearson’s resignation was “a good first step” after telling the mayor he needed to remove problematic staffers.
“I’m just letting him know that we’re monitoring the situation. We expect changes. That’s not a secret,” she reportedly said at an unrelated press conference.
