Add The New York Post on Google Sharks in City Hall are circling around NYC Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, insiders told The Post this week, as the first elected official has publicly called for his head.
Samuels had a disastrous week after he was grilled at a City Council budget hearing Monday over The Post’s bombshell exclusive that he inked a $180,000 no-bid contract with a non-Department of Education-approved vendor Sean Kreyling in 2023, while he was superintendent of the Upper West Side’s District 3.
The first public official has called for Samuels to resign. Stephen Yang for NY Post He also split payments between Kreyling’s two companies so they wouldn’t exceed a $25,000 threshold that would have triggered city financial oversight, emails obtained by The Post show.
“Chancellor Kamar Samuels has lost the confidence of public school parents, educators, and school administrators. He should step down,” New York City Councilman Phil Wong (D-Queens) told The Post.
A City Hall insider told The Post the DOE is already expecting Samuels to get the axe, and the agency is bracing itself for the loss of its fourth chancellor in five years.
“He’s a dead man walking,” the source said.
“People don’t really like him anyway — people believe he is in way over his head,” a well-placed DOE source told The Post.
Before DOE General Counsel Liz Vladeck shut down further questions, Samuels testified Monday that he regrets “the lapses in policy and procedures that took place while I was the superintendent, and the actions in question were all meant to [be] in the pursuit of educational opportunity.”
NYC City Councilman Phil Wong said Samuels lost the confidence of parents and educators. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post Samuels’ week only got worse after Kreyling was suddenly called in to testify at a hearing Wednesday, and pointed the finger squarely at Samuels and also accused the SCI — the independent DOE investigative body — of engaging in a rigged investigation to cover for him.
“It had a narrative that it wanted to carry out from start to finish, protecting certain individuals, and ultimately it allowed me and my organization to be the scapegoats for the very poor decisions of Kamar Samuels,” he testified at the hearing.
The June 2025 SCI report pinned the blame on Kreyling and Samuels’ former Deputy Superintendent, Mariela Graham — who signed a near-identical contract with Kreyling in 2024 — and made no mention of Samuels’ role in the scheme.
City Councilman Frank Morano (R–Staten Island) demanded accountability after Kreyling’s testimony.
“What troubles me isn’t just the allegation itself. It’s the possibility that there may be one set of rules for rank-and-file employees and another set of rules for senior leadership,” Morano said.
The DOE and Samuels did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
