Mayor Eric Adams’ partner Tracey Collins had roughly 40 scheduled meetings and events during her first eight months following a promotion to a high-level role in the city Education Department, according to daily calendars obtained by Chalkbeat.
The schedule left about 75% of her days empty and gave little sense of her role or a coherent set of responsibilities.
It’s not clear how many of Collins’ daily responsibilities were listed in her calendar. But the scant information raises questions about her role at a time when Collins, a veteran educator and former principal, faces increased scrutiny after she appeared in a federal indictment of Adams on corruption charges.
Referred to as Adams’ “Partner” in the indictment, Collins allegedly benefited from tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of travel upgrades from Turkish officials attempting to buy favor with Adams, according to the documents. Prosecutors didn’t accuse Collins of any wrongdoing.
Collins was elevated in 2022 to a $221,000-a-year position as senior adviser in the Division of School Leadership — a nearly $50,000 raise from her previous year’s salary, according to payroll records. Her promotion drew fire in a New York Post story that Adams spokesperson Fabien Levy dismissed at the time as a “vile and sexist” smear.
Collins recently switched to senior adviser to deputy chancellor of family and community engagement Melissa Aviles-Ramos, who Adams named last week as his next Chancellor when David Banks retires Dec. 31.
Last weekend, the Post surfaced additional allegations from a staffer who reportedly filed a complaint with the Conflict of Interest Board and other investigators that Collins hasn’t appeared in person to her job since last Thanksgiving and didn’t sufficiently disclose her travel benefits.
A spokesperson for the office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools confirmed they’d received a complaint about Collins not showing up, but declined to provide further detail or say whether they are looking into it.
Asked about Collins at a Tuesday press conference, Adams defended her promotion and work ethic.
“Tracey was a phenomenal educator for over 30-something years,” he said. “There was a job vacancy. She filed for it. Being the significant other of the mayor should not stop your track.”
He added: “Tracey does her job and she does it well.”
Education Department spokesperson Nathaniel Styer added that her job includes “strategic planning, making recommendations on agency priorities, and providing advice and support to senior leadership.”
Some meetings may be redacted from schedules obtained via public records request, officials said.
Outgoing Chancellor Banks is a longtime friend of Adams whose own romantic partner and brother serve as deputy mayors. Banks also hired Adams’ sister-in-law, Sharon, last May, THE CITY reported.
Collins didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
As a senior adviser in the Division of School Leadership, Collins held a high-level role in a section of the Education Department that consolidated significant power under Banks. The division oversees all 45 district superintendents and assumed oversight of Banks’ signature literacy and math curriculum initiatives after Banks disbanded the division previously leading those efforts.
The division also saw a leadership shakeup in 2023, when deputy chancellor Desmond Blackburn left after just a year in the job and was replaced by Danika Rux.
A job description for a role matching Collins’ from 2022 notes that the position was only open to candidates from within the Education Department. It describes the role as a “key member” of the deputy chancellor’s leadership team responsible for managing partnerships with outside groups.
A job description obtained by Chalkbeat for Collins’ current role working for Aviles-Ramos matches the description for her previous role word for word, except for reporting to a different deputy chancellor.
Her schedule listed five events related to superintendent “hot seats” — a Banks innovation meant to subject district leaders to more scrutiny over their data and school performance. Several of the hot seat events also include “mindfulness” exercises, a priority for both Banks and Adams.
Collins had several one-on-one meetings with officials closely involved in the department’s response to the influx of migrant students.
She met one-on-one with Flavia Puello-Pardomo, who oversees the department’s Students in Temporary Housing division. She also sat down with Aviles-Ramos, who led Project Open Arms, the city’s interagency effort to coordinate services for migrant children.
Other items on Collins’ schedule seemed a little further outside the purview of the division of school leadership, including several meetings related to school food — a top priority of Adams, a zealous advocate for healthy eating who introduced plant-powered Fridays to city school cafeterias.
Collins had a one-on-one meeting with Chris Tricarico, the head of the Office of School Food and Nutrition Services in August, 2022, according to her schedule. In February 2023, she joined Tricarico at the city’s school food test kitchen in Queens for a session on a chef council developing new recipes, according to the calendar.
This story has been updated with information from the Education Department about Collins’ current role and job description.
Alex Zimmerman contributed.
Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.
