By Michele Evans / NYweeklyRecord.com / Date: 10/4/2026
Category: Government Ethics / New York City Schools / Accountability / Taxpayer Funds
NEW YORK CITY, NY –
A New York City public-school principal and her domestic partner agreed to pay $11,750 in combined penalties after the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board concluded that she used her position to benefit him through overtime, performance and tenure decisions.
Bridget Garzaniti, principal of the High School of Arts and Technology on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, agreed to pay $7,500. Curtis Williams, a guidance counselor who worked under her supervision, agreed to pay $4,250.
The penalties settle the city’s ethics case. They are not criminal fines. The reported settlement terms call for no further action by the Conflicts of Interest Board, and both employees remained employed.
According to the settlement documents reported by journalist Susan Edelman and the New York Post, Garzaniti and Williams have lived together since June 2017 and have a child. Williams joined the High School of Arts and Technology in October 2019. Garzaniti became principal in July 2023.
Over the following year, she approved 199 hours of overtime for Williams, totaling more than $12,000 in additional public pay, according to the reported findings.
Garzaniti also gave Williams the highest available job rating and recommended him for tenure in June 2024. The Department of Education approved the recommendation, giving him stronger, long-term employment protections.
City ethics rules prohibit public servants from using their positions to financially benefit themselves or people with whom they have close personal relationships. Department of Education rules also restrict principals from directly supervising employees with whom they have such relationships.
The conflict should have been disclosed to the district superintendent so one employee could be reassigned, former city education officials told the New York Post. Williams was transferred in March 2025 after a complaint, but he moved to another school in the same Amsterdam Avenue building. Garzaniti was not transferred.
The settlement answers who violated the city’s ethics rules and what financial penalties were imposed. It leaves larger accountability questions unresolved.
The Department of Education has not publicly explained whether Williams’ tenure will be reconsidered, whether the overtime approvals were independently reviewed, or whether Garzaniti faces separate employment discipline. The reported $11,750 in fines is also slightly less than the overtime Garzaniti authorized for Williams in 2024.
Those unanswered questions matter because school leaders control public money and career decisions that affect staff across the system. Every employee competing for overtime, ratings or tenure is entitled to a process free from undisclosed personal influence.
The city’s response cannot stop at collecting fines. The Department of Education should explain what safeguards failed, whether the benefits remain in place and how it will prevent principals from making personnel decisions involving domestic partners.
Sources
Susan B. Edelman, Conflicts and Favors
New York Post, NYC public school principal showered her partner-staffer with overtime
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