Pressure is mounting on New York City Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, with sources telling The Post that criticism inside City Hall is intensifying and at least one elected official has now openly called for his resignation.
Samuels came under heavy scrutiny this week following a City Council budget hearing on Monday, where he faced questions about The Post’s report that, while serving as superintendent of Manhattan’s District 3 in 2023, he approved a $180,000 no-bid contract for Sean Kreyling, a vendor not approved by the Department of Education.
Emails reviewed by The Post also indicate that payments were divided between two companies linked to Kreyling, keeping each below the $25,000 level that would have prompted city financial oversight.
“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, a Queens Democrat, told The Post.
According to a City Hall source, the Department of Education is already preparing for the possibility that Samuels will be removed, a move that would make him the agency’s 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.”
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.
