Manhattan teacher posted nearly naked snap online, flirted with students, kept working

[The Bobster]

Manhattan teacher posted nearly naked snap online, flirted with students, kept working

Gabriel Mitey, 27, a social studies teacher at Lower Manhattan Arts Academy, or LOMA, has generated several complaints, students and school sources told The Post.

nypost.com

Manhattan teacher posted nearly naked snap online, flirted with students, kept working​

By
Susan Edelman


September 25, 2021 2:50pm
Updated

The complaints come out of the Lower Manhattan Arts Academy. Helayne Seidman

​

The city allowed a Manhattan high-school teacher accused of posting a nearly nude selfie online and flirting with students to stay on the job for more than a year, but finally removed him Saturday amid new complaints about his conduct, The Post has learned.
Gabriel Mitey, 27, a social studies teacher at Lower Manhattan Arts Academy, or LOMA, generated several complaints last school year, students and staffers told The Post. But investigators questioned whether his conduct was cause for firing or just “weird” and “a stupid mistake,” insiders said.
“Nothing is being done, He is getting away with it,” said a LOMA grad who told investigators a year ago that Mitey had sexually harassed him during his senior year.
Rather than immediately sideline the teacher while the alleged inappropriate behavior was investigated, which is standard Department of Education procedure, Mitey was kept on — and even handeda plum role at graduation by a principal who himself is the subject of a sexual harassment complaint.
Since inquiries by The Post, the student’s grievance is getting more scrutiny, along with a new complaint by a current LOMA student, a girl.
“Although certain allegations have been investigated and closed, open matters regarding Mr. Mitey remain active,”said Regina Gluzmanova, a spokeswoman for the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools, Anastasia Coleman.
Gabriel Mitey has generated several complaints with his behavior.https://lomahs.nyc/about/teachers-staff/
LOMA principal Derek Premo, who is accused of pressing his groin against another male teacher’s leg at a staff holiday party, favors Mitey, staffers say.
The image of Mitey in a bathroom with a towel barely covering his groin was posted on Snapchat, copied and shared by teens who follow him on the social media platform, students said.
“I was shocked,” one girl who saw it told The Post.
The recent LOMA grad who complained about sexual harassment said that after Mitey’s AP Government class went remote during the pandemic last year, the teacher started texting the 17-year-old about non-school matters, such as “asking how my day was,” what he was eating and doing for leisure.
Mitey also texted the student about his own routine. “I could tell that he was flirting, it was very much flirting. He had an ulterior motive,” the ex-student said, adding that the exchanges made him increasingly uneasy. “I felt so uncomfortable going to his Zoom classes.”
Mitey finally suggested the two get together that summer after graduation, the student said he told SCI.
Principal Derek Premo is also the subject of a sexual harassment complaint.https://lomahs.nyc/about/teachers-staff/
“He wanted to show me a book. We could have coffee at his place, maybe food. He basically asked me on a date,” said the student, who declined the invitation.
Mitey later texted, “Hope you’re having a good summer. Too bad I haven’t gotten to see you,” with a frown emoji, screenshots show. Mitey also asked amid their texts, “And it can stay between us?” When the teen asked if the teacher was referring to a class issue, Mitey replied, “Smooth. Lol naturally, like you.”
Last year, the student confided his discomfort to another LOMA teacher, who told an assistant principal. Both reported the complaint to SCI, sources confirmed. But Mitey wasn’t removed. Premo honored Mitey by assigning him to hand out the diplomas at an in-person graduation ceremony.
Another recent grad told The Post that Mitey asked her to stay after-school, where he videotaped her reading a passage on Galileo. Mitey asked the girl, who is black, to pretend to have difficulty pronouncing the words, and to “act mad,” she said.
The teen said she believes Mitey planned to use the videotape in his Master’s Degree program.
One of the complaints comes from a recent LOMA grad.Helayne Seidman
On Snapchat, the same girl asked Mitey if he had complimented her in an anonymous post. He replied “yes, yolo (you only live once).” Mitey also reminded her to delete their conversation, saying “Chat has got to disappear.”
Reached by phone, Mitey hung up on a reporter when asked about the students’ complaints.
DOE spokeswoman Katie O’Hanlon said in a statement Saturday, “These are extremely disturbing allegations and we are removing this teacher from the classroom pending the outcome of SCI’s investigation.”