A Queens public school, Gotham Tech High School, recently welcomed Diana Moreno, the Queens Democratic Party’s nominee for a special election on Feb. 3, into a classroom, despite city regulations that govern such visits.
This event, publicized on Moreno’s campaign Instagram before being removed, took place outside the 60-day pre-election window when candidates may visit schools if tied to educational content, per city rules, and occurred just beyond the borders of the Astoria Assembly district once held by Zohran Mamdani, though many students hail from within it.
The situation has stirred debate over fairness and adherence to Department of Education policies, which mandate notifying the Office of Communications and Media Relations before any candidate visits and encourage exposing students to a range of political perspectives.
While Moreno’s team insists the visit had no campaign agenda, the optics suggest otherwise, especially since rivals Mary Jobaida and Rana Abdelhamid, both Democratic Socialists running on independent lines, received no such invitation.
As reported by Politico, Moreno’s campaign manager, Aaron Narraph Fernando, defended the event, stating, “We didn’t campaign and we were invited.” A fine line to walk when Instagram posts, since deleted, tagged her as an Assembly candidate.
If schools are to be neutral ground, why does it feel like one candidate got a VIP pass while others are left at the gate?
Gotham Tech’s principal, Luis Familia, approved the visit, emphasizing a desire to connect with eighth-graders from feeder schools, saying, “For us it was important, because we want to be able to build a bridge with the eighth-grade students of those schools in the areas that come in, right?”
Yet, the late notice and seemingly impromptu nature of the discussion raise questions about whether proper protocols were followed or if this was a rushed favor.
Familia did note openness to hosting other candidates, a gesture that sounds fair but arrives after the fact, leaving a whiff of selective access.
Moreno’s competitors aren’t staying quiet, with Jobaida’s spokesperson, James Carozza, pointing out, “Mary doesn’t just go to visit schools for a photo op, she has taught in two public schools in this district.”
It’s a sharp reminder that presence in a community shouldn’t be a staged event but a track record of service, especially when schools face real resource gaps that need addressing over publicity stunts.
Abdelhamid’s campaign also confirmed no invitation was extended, underscoring how this incident tilts the playing field in a race already loaded with party-line advantages for Moreno.
Teacher Jennifer Flores, who invited Moreno, praised her outreach on Instagram, writing, “We love politicians who care for the kids!” before deleting the post, a move that hardly erases the impression of bias in a public school setting.
City rules are clear that schools must avoid even the appearance of endorsing a candidate, yet here we are, parsing through scrubbed social media posts and wondering if education took a backseat to politics.
At a time when trust in public institutions is fragile, episodes like this fuel skepticism that progressive agendas or party loyalties might be slipping into spaces meant for learning, not campaigning.