NYC Faculties Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos is engaged “in a loving relationship” with the son of a robust state lawmaker whose help she was relying on to assist preserve her job underneath the Mamdani administration, The Publish has realized.
Aviles-Ramos’ romance with Julian Sepulveda, son of Bronx state Sen. Luis Sepulveda, blossomed earlier than she filed a petition to divorce her husband, a number of sources say.
However now that relationship prevents Sen. Sepulveda — an ally of the chancellor — from brazenly lobbying Mamdani on her behalf, his spokesman acknowledged.
Aviles-Ramos, 43, started courting Julian Sepulveda, 33, lengthy earlier than she and ex-husband Samuel Ramos filed for divorce in early 2023, however the married couple thought-about themselves separated, his lawyer mentioned.
Earlier than her marriage ended, Julian Sepulveda wasn’t shy about his affection for the educator. In keeping with a supply who shared a screenshot, he posted a selfie on his since-deleted Fb web page displaying Aviles-Ramos leaning gently in opposition to his chest throughout a getaway in Puerto Rico. The date: Sept. 2, 2022.
“Everyone knew she was with Julian. It was an enormous open secret,” mentioned a former DOE official.
“They’ve been in a loving relationship for a couple of years now,” Division of Training spokeswoman Nicole Brownstein confirmed.
The ex-husband’s lawyer, J.C. Polanco, denied any hanky-panky, saying his shopper and Aviles-Ramos, who’ve a daughter, had plans to divorce earlier than the official submitting.
“They simply drifted aside and broke up,” Polanco mentioned the husband defined. “There was no affair, no misconduct, and nothing past two adults shifting ahead with their lives. They continue to be shut pals and dedicated co-parents.”
The chancellor has repeatedly described herself within the press as “a single mother.”
Revelations this week about her relationship with a robust politician’s son come at a pivotal time, as Mamdani weighs his choose for NYC faculties chancellor, some of the essential in his administration.
Aviles-Ramos hopes to stay within the $426,280-a-year job she has held since September 2024, changing David Banks.
“I’m a New York Metropolis public college mother. It’s necessary to me that the system runs properly,” she advised The Publish after assembly Mamdani at a mosque through the SOMOS convention in Puerto Rico this month. She advised The New York Occasions, “If I’m given the chance, in fact I’d be grateful.”
Sepulveda’s father, who has served within the Senate and Meeting since 2013, gushed with reward for Aviles-Ramos after Mayor Adams appointed her to succeed Banks as chancellor in September 2024.
“Congratulations to my expensive buddy and colleague Melissa Aviles-Ramos on being named the following NYC Faculties Chancellor!” he posted on X. “Because the highest-ranking Latina chief in NYC Public Faculties, her expertise, dedication, and Bronx roots will serve our college students and households properly. I’m trying ahead to working carefully together with her!”
He didn’t disclose that his son was courting Aviles-Ramos. On Friday, he refused to debate his son’s private life.
As for Aviles-Ramos, the senator is not going to “actively” foyer Mamdani’s transition workforce on her behalf, mentioned his aide Mike Nieves. However Nieves added: “If he’s requested, he’ll have one thing to say.”
A month after ex-Chancellor Banks took workplace in January 2022, he named Julian Sepulveda director of state legislative affairs, which paid $97,912 a yr. On the time, Aviles-Ramos was a deputy superintendent of Bronx excessive faculties.
Eight months after his promotion, Sepulveda stop the DOE.
Brownstein denied the DOE pushed Sepulveda out when phrase unfold of his relationship with the still-married Aviles-Ramos.
The well-connected scion landed a “manner higher job,” Brownstein mentioned, as deputy director of intergovernmental affairs underneath state Lawyer Basic Tish James, beginning at about the identical wage: $99,883. Final fiscal yr, he collected $112,085, payroll information present.
Aviles-Ramos and her husband, who owned a transit firm, filed for an uncontested divorce in January 2023 in Jefferson County, on the northernmost tip of the state. On the time, New York {couples} may get a divorce in any county, and less-busy upstate courthouses provided fast outcomes, mentioned lawyer Daniel Yaniv. They finalized their divorce in 5 months that Could.
