NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- New York City’s former schools chancellor has been slapped with a $1,100 fine for taking his wife to a “Hamilton” show using a $10 ticket meant for Department of Education employees, the city’s ethics agency said Thursday.
Former Department of Education Chancellor Richard Carranza and his wife attended a Broadway showing of “Hamilton” in April 2019 after purchasing $10 tickets through the department’s “EduHam” program, the New York Conflicts of Interest Board said.
The program allows public school students and employees to attend productions at a fraction of the usual cost, but Carranza’s wife was not a Department of Education employee at the time, the board said.
“The all-day event was emceed by a Hamilton cast member and included student performances, a Q&A with the Hamilton cast, and a matinee performance of Hamilton,” the board tweeted Thursday. “The Chancellor used a ticket for his wife that typically would have been distributed to DOE employees.”
Carranza admitted to purchasing the $10 ticket for his wife in a disposition released by the board on Thursday, but said he believed his chief of staff at the time had cleared the purchase with the department’s Ethics Officer.
“While I believed that I had made a good faith attempt to comply with the applicable rules, and although I did not realize it at the time, I now acknowledge that, by using an EduHam Event ticket for my wife to accompany me to the event, I violated [a provision] of the City Charter,” he said in the disposition.
Carranza stepped down from his post in March after leading the department for three years.
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