NYC Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos is engaged “in a loving relationship” with the son of a powerful state lawmaker whose support she was counting on to help keep her job under the Mamdani administration, The Post has learned.
Aviles-Ramos’ romance with Julian Sepulveda, son of Bronx state Sen. Luis Sepulveda, blossomed before she filed a petition to divorce her husband, multiple sources say.
But now that relationship prevents Sen. Sepulveda — an ally of the chancellor — from openly lobbying Mamdani on her behalf, his spokesman acknowledged.
Aviles-Ramos, 43, began dating Julian Sepulveda, 33, long before she and ex-husband Samuel Ramos filed for divorce in early 2023, but the married couple considered themselves separated, his lawyer said.
Before her marriage ended, Julian Sepulveda wasn’t shy about his affection for the educator. According to a source who shared a screenshot, he posted a selfie on his since-deleted Facebook page showing Aviles-Ramos leaning gently against his chest during a getaway in Puerto Rico. The date: Sept. 2, 2022.
“Everybody knew she was with Julian. It was a big open secret,” said a former DOE official.
“They’ve been in a loving relationship for a few years now,” Department of Education spokeswoman Nicole Brownstein confirmed.
The ex-husband’s lawyer, J.C. Polanco, denied any hanky-panky, saying his client and Aviles-Ramos, who have a daughter, had plans to divorce before the official filing.
“They just drifted apart and broke up,” Polanco said the husband explained. “There was no affair, no misconduct, and nothing beyond two adults moving forward with their lives. They remain close friends and committed co-parents.”
The chancellor has repeatedly described herself in the press as “a single mom.”
Revelations this week about her relationship with a powerful politician’s son come at a pivotal time, as Mamdani weighs his pick for NYC schools chancellor, one of the most crucial in his administration.
Aviles-Ramos hopes to remain in the $426,280-a-year job she has held since September 2024, replacing David Banks.
“I’m a New York City public school mom. It’s important to me that the system runs well,” she told The Post after meeting Mamdani at a mosque during the SOMOS conference in Puerto Rico this month. She told The New York Times, “If I’m given the opportunity, of course I would be grateful.”
Sepulveda’s father, who has served in the Senate and Assembly since 2013, gushed with praise for Aviles-Ramos after Mayor Adams appointed her to succeed Banks as chancellor in September 2024.
“Congratulations to my dear friend and colleague Melissa Aviles-Ramos on being named the next NYC Schools Chancellor!” he posted on X. “As the highest-ranking Latina leader in NYC Public Schools, her experience, dedication, and Bronx roots will serve our students and families well. I’m looking forward to working closely with her!”
He did not disclose that his son was dating Aviles-Ramos. On Friday, he refused to discuss his son’s personal life.
As for Aviles-Ramos, the senator will not “actively” lobby Mamdani’s transition team on her behalf, said his aide Mike Nieves. But Nieves added: “If he’s asked, he’ll have something to say.”
A month after ex-Chancellor Banks took office in January 2022, he named Julian Sepulveda director of state legislative affairs, which paid $97,912 a year. At the time, Aviles-Ramos was a deputy superintendent of Bronx high schools.
Eight months after his promotion, Sepulveda quit the DOE.
Brownstein denied the DOE pushed Sepulveda out when word spread of his relationship with the still-married Aviles-Ramos.
The well-connected scion landed a “way better job,” Brownstein said, as deputy director of intergovernmental affairs under state Attorney General Tish James, starting at about the same salary: $99,883. Last fiscal year, he collected $112,085, payroll records show.
Aviles-Ramos and her husband, who owned a transit company, filed for an uncontested divorce in January 2023 in Jefferson County, at the northernmost tip of the state. At the time, New York couples could get a divorce in any county, and less-busy upstate courthouses offered rapid results, said lawyer Daniel Yaniv. They finalized their divorce in five months that May.
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