A professor’s mic went off mute. What she said about Black children reverberated across New York.
A professor’s mic went off mute. What she said about Black children reverberated across New York.
Last week, a gathering of parents and city officials took place in a dimly lit cafeteria, reuniting after a college professor’s offhand comment sparked widespread controversy in New York City’s school district. The event, held in the basement of Joan of Arc Junior High School on the Upper West Side, drew about two dozen attendees while an additional 150 joined via Zoom. The atmosphere was charged with unease, as participants grappled with the fallout from remarks that had ignited national discourse.
At the heart of the tension was a Black eighth grader whose plea to save her middle school from closure was interrupted by Allyson Friedman, a tenured associate professor at Hunter College. Over Zoom, Friedman was heard stating,
“They’re too dumb to know they’re in a bad school,”
as the student argued for the school’s future. The recording of that moment swiftly circulated online, amplifying a debate over equity and school closures that had already been simmering.
The emergency meeting saw Community Education Council District 3 members voting unanimously to denounce Friedman’s comments and push for updated protocols to manage video conferences. Council Co-President Jill Rackmill opened the session by highlighting the student’s voice, which had been overshadowed by the professor’s words. “The anti-Black words spoken by an adult have been heard ’round the world,” she said, adding, “But the words of the student who courageously came to what should have been a safe and affirming space have not been. They have been drowned out. Adults failed her.”
Friedman’s remarks, which drew condemnation from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as “racist,” led to her being placed on leave by Hunter College. The decision came just hours before the Thursday night meeting, underscoring the urgency of the situation. “On the Upper West Side, they far sooner would smile at your face and do anti-Black things as opposed to say anti-Black things,” public school parent and CEC District 3 member Noah Odabashian remarked. “And so I was a little shocked that they would say the quiet part out loud.”
Meanwhile, the debate over school closures continued to divide the community. Proposals to close or merge at least four middle schools on the Upper West Side have been under discussion for months, citing factors like low enrollment, budget constraints, academic performance, and compliance with a 2022 law requiring class-size reductions by 2028. These changes often provoke backlash, as they can impact funding, neighborhood dynamics, and deepen racial and economic disparities.
Elizabeth Sofro, a parent at the meeting, described the proposals as a “push to the wall” with little time to process their effects. “So, stuff comes out. People’s true colors come out, whether it’s good or bad,” she explained. Dominique Ellison, a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Education, noted that “no formal proposals have been finalized or circulated” at this time, leaving the future of the schools uncertain.
Rita Joseph, a Black City Council member leading the higher education committee, emphasized the racial undertones of the discussion. “We cannot talk about school closures, equity or educational opportunity without confronting the culture and systems that devalue Black students and communities,” she told The New York Times. With 27% of sixth through eighth graders in the district being Black—compared to 23% citywide—Joseph’s words underscored the stakes of the debate.