By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-09 21:55:56 | Updated at 2026-08-09 23:45:28
2 hours ago
An ethics complaint has been slapped against the husband of Nikole Hannah-Jones, the woke New York Times scribe behind the controversial “1619 Project” — for shamelessly plugging his new bookstore and bar at a recent public-education meeting he helped run.
“Being that the July 29, 2026, [Panel for Educational Policy] hearing is an official proceeding of a City body, the members’ seats and speaking time exist to serve the public’s business, not to advertise the members’ private commercial ventures,” fumed the watchdog group NYC Common Sense in an Aug. 6 letter to the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board, which oversees the conduct of public officials.
Faraji Hannah Jones is a member of the PEP and serves as chairman of the policy-making board’s contracts committee.
During its July 29 hearing at the High School for Fashion Industries in Chelsea, he used his speaking time to advertise that he and his wife Nikole are planning to open a bookstore in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, that will push “banned” books.
“My wife and I are building an institution in Brooklyn, in Bed-Stuy, called North Star Books and Bar,” Faraji said.
North Star Books and Bar is set to open sometime in 2026 on Macon Street and is named after the abolitionist newspaper founded by Frederick Douglass.
Faraji, who joined the PEP in 2025, promised that North Star Books would be a “huge bookstore” and would sell “all the books that are banned,” while his fellow PEP members looked on.
Its bar, whose liquor license is pending, will sell “black-owned spirits,” according to its website.
NYC Common Sense cried foul.
“The City’s conflicts of interest law, Chapter 68 of the New York City Charter, was written with the precise interest of preventing this blending of public office and private gain,” acording to its letter to the COIB.
“Charter Section 2604(b)(3) provides that ‘[n]o public servant shall use or attempt to use his or her position as a public servant to obtain any financial gain, contract, license, privilege or other private or personal advantage, direct or indirect, for the public servant or any person or firm associated with the public servant.”
Faraji used his position and allotted time at an official PEP hearing to promote a business in which he has a financial interest, the complaint said.
“Regardless of the outcome of any potential investigation, conduct of this nature deserves a thorough review to maintain confidence in the City’s accountability promises,” NYC Common Sense said.
“If Mr. Hannah-Jones’s conduct did not violate the City’s ethics laws, he also should have the opportunity to have that confirmed and reiterate his commitment to fair public governance practices.
“If it did, New Yorkers deserve to know that the Board takes seriously even seemingly minor uses of public office for private promotion, since a culture that tolerates small conflicts invites larger ones. As such, we respectfully request that the Board review this matter to determine whether Mr. Hannah-Jones’s conduct violated Chapter 68 of the City Charter.”
A representative with the Conflict of Interest Board said the COIB is prohibited from disclosing whether it has received a complaint or what action it may have or has taken in response.
Yiatin Chu, president of Asian Wave Alliance and co-founder of Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education, of PLACE NYC, ripped Faraji for the move.
“I can’t believe I just heard a member on NYC’s Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) plug he and his wife’s retail business. Totally inappropriate to use NYC’s school board to promote his private for-profit store,” she tweeted after the hearing.
“This panel member should be reprimanded for this behavior.”
Faraji declined to comment.
His wife Nikole has also been a lightning rod for controversy.
Nikole has claimed that America was “founded on racism” and authored the “1619 Project,” which claimed that America’s starting date occurred a century before the signing of the Declaration of Independence with the arrival of the first African slave.
Various states have sought to ban the book from being taught in schools because of widespread historical inaccuracies.
She also slammed the Greatest Generation as racist, claiming that though they fought for freedom abroad, they oppressed black people in the US.
