Metro

Queens student has Mayor Eric Adams’ personal number, calls him from school protest

It really is all about who you know in New York.

One of the leaders of a Queens high school student protest had a powerful friend on speed dial when she needed support during a walkout Wednesday —  the city’s mayor.

Halima Ait Elhoussine, 17, personally texted Eric Adams about the demonstration at Long Island City High School as it was going on, telling him about what her classmates were doing and saying, “The people need you here.”

The students were protesting alleged racism on campus, claiming that the black assistant principal, Tanya Bloomfield, was “forced” to resign at the hands of Principal Vivian Selenikas.

Hizzoner, who was in Washington, DC, quickly responded — by urging her to get back to class.

“Children should be in school,” Adams wrote back to the teen, who said she got his number at an event last summer. “You can protest after school hours.” 

Adams then offered her a lesson from the school of hard knocks — saying the walkout would do little to solve alleged racism on campus, which had sparked the protest.

“The move is to ask for a meeting with the chancellor,” he added in one of his replies to Elhoussine, the first of which came just two minutes after she messaged him.

“Walking out [won’t] solve anything.”

Students protested alleged discrimination of a popular assistant principal. Kevin C. Downs for NY Post

But Elhoussine didn’t take the “stay in school” message to heart, twisting the mayor’s words a smidge as she shouted into a bullhorn to the crowd of classmates that Adams was on their side.

“Listen up,” she told the protesters, who had gathered outside late in the school day at 1:15 p.m. “The mayor has just texted me. He said that this is not right. The mayor is with us.”  

Elhoussine is a student representative at the school, who describes herself on Twitter as “Political activist/public speaker/poet/reproductive advocate.”

Adams encouraged the student to go back to class and protest after school hours. Matthew McDermott

When asked about having friends in such high places, Elhoussine told The Post that she’s also met other powerbrokers.

“I’ve also rallied for Kathy Hochul and I met President Bill Clinton,” she said. “These people that I meet it’s not because I want the fame, it’s because I want these students to have a voice.”

When asked why the teenager had the mayor’s number, a City Hall rep said Adams had promised to be the “most accessible” mayor in history.

“We appreciate these students being civically engaged but they should remain in school during school hours,” the rep said. “As the message shows, the students should set up a meeting with school officials to further discuss their concerns.”

More than 200 students had staged the walkout to condemn the alleged racially motivated “forced  resignation” of the popular educator.

The text exchange between Adams and the student.

At the protest — which lasted for about an hour and a half — students waved signs reading “Vivian is a bully” and “Stop teaching racism” as others chanted “We need change!” and “I say no/ you have to go!”

“She’s making teachers quit,” said Nic Benitez, a 16-year-old junior at the school. “I’d definitely like to see the principal taken down.”

The protest came after a petition was signed by nearly 600 students, slamming Selenikas for her treatment of Bloomfield. 

“As a black administrator she was not given the same opportunity as her white colleagues. She was not able to pick novels that signified black injustice/excellence,” according to the petition which claims that only “5 percent” of teachers at the school are black.

Students protested after almost 600 signed a petition against Principal Vivian Selenikas. Kevin C. Downs for NY Post

“There have been many black students who also do not feel welcome by Principal Selenikas. She needs to resign now, not anyone else.”

In her Jan. 27 resignation letter, Bloomfield wrote that she suffered  “retaliation, discrimination,  marginalization, open isolation, segregation, racism and alienation” from Selenikas.

“The actions of Principal Selenikas towards me at LICHS is nothing short of an insidious career  lynching and a hate crime,” she wrote. “Therefore, I must flee for my safety.”

Her resignation comes two years after a well-liked black social studies teacher, Mario Scott, resigned from the school, alleging discrimination.

Selenikas declined to comment through a rep on Wednesday. The Department of Education didn’t return a request for comment.