Blakeman, on the campaign trail, wants to expand NYC specialized schools

Republican gubernatorial candidate and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman wants to expand specialized high schools in New York City, he said during his first five-borough campaign event in Brooklyn on Thursday.

"The line to get into these schools is very, very long," Blakeman said at the event in Sunset Park. "Why not have schools that are specialized?"

The city’s specialized high schools, considered among the most prestigious public schools in the nation, admit by exam and enroll about 5% of New York City public high school students. They have long been criticized for having too few Black and Latino students. Between 1% and 7% of students enrollment at the so-called "Big Three" schools — Stuyvesant High School, Bronx Science and Brooklyn — were Black, and between 3% and 7% were Latino, in a public school system where two-thirds of students are Black or Latino, Chalkbeat and the New York Times reported. Asian students are disproportionately represented at these schools, making up a large majority of the student population.

Standing beside local Republican state officials in Sunset Park, one of the city’s largest Asian neighborhoods, Blakeman incorrectly stated that Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani seek to close Stuyvesant High School, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech and Brooklyn Latin, which are among the specialized schools across the city.

The schools have produced "some of the greatest business people, some of the greatest inventors, scientists," Blakeman said. "Now they want to take that ability away by shoving everybody in together."

Neither Hochul nor Mamdani has called for the closure of these schools.

Admission to the city's specialized high schools happens through a competitive exam, required by state law for Stuyvesant, Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech, though the exam is also used for several other specialized high schools.  

Blakeman did not specify how he would expand the specialized schools. The admissions process, he believes, should be "colorblind."

"It should be blind to race. It should be blind to religion. It should be blind to your family’s status economically. It should be based purely on achievement," Blakeman said, standing beside Republican State Sen. Steve Chan (R-Brooklyn), Assemb. Lester Chang (R-Brooklyn) and Assemb. Michael Novakhov (R-Manhattan Beach).

City officials, not the governor, decide admissions for the gifted and talented program for elementary school students — or whether to offer a program at all.

At a separate event on Thursday in Queens, Hochul declined to state her position on either the high school test or the gifted and talented program.

"It's a matter for the city," she said.

Mamdani, a Bronx Science alum, once called for the elimination of the exam but has since changed his position to say he would no longer call for the exam to be scrapped.

He has said he wants to eliminate the gifted and talented program for kindergartners but has kept the status quo for the current year.

"Governor Hochul is always going to stand up for students — meanwhile, Bruce Blakeman ... won't lift a finger to fight back against Donald Trump's war on New York kids, including his attempts to defund New York schools," Hochul campaign spokesman Ryan Radulovacki wrote in a statement.

Mamdani spokeswoman Dora Pekec did not immediately comment.

Asked about plans to increase enrollment of Black and Latino students in these programs, Blakeman underscored his view that the programs should be about "rewarding excellence."

 Local Asian American communities have protested for years when city leaders, such as now-former Mayor Bill de Blasio, proposed changing the way the city’s elite public schools admit students.

"I’m white! I would never get into any of these schools," Blakeman laughed. "I wouldn’t want to try to compete with people that were that much smarter than I am."