NYC Mayor Eric Adams denies graphic sexual assault claims

Metro

By Craig McCarthy and Emily Crane

Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday strenuously denied claims he once asked an ex-city employee for oral sex and exposed himself to her while on the job more than three decades ago, insisting: “This did not happen.”

Hizzoner addressed the graphic allegations the day after Lorna Beach-Mathura, a former NYPD administrative aide, slapped Adams with a bombshell $5 million sexual assault lawsuit that accuses him of preying on her when he was a transit cop in 1993.

“It did not happen. I don’t recall ever meeting this person during my time in the police department,” Adams said during a City Hall briefing.

His accuser has claimed the alleged assault happened back in 1993 when Adams drove “her to a vacant lot and request[ed] oral sex from her,” according to the explosive court papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court Monday.

When she refused, Adams allegedly put her hand on his “erect penis,” the filing charges.

Peppered with questions about the allegations, the mayor repeatedly defended his reputation — and apologized that his girlfriend, Tracey Collins, and his son, Jordan Coleman, were “going through this.”

“My life has been a clear and open book for almost 40 years,” Adams told reporters, adding that he has always “carried myself with a level of dignity” that New Yorkers expect of him throughout his career.

“I’m going to continue to stay focused and grind.”

The city’s Corporation Counsel, Hon. Sylvia Hinds-Radix, prevented the mayor from responding to questions about the specific allegations laid bare in the suit.

Hizzoner, too, stopped short of saying whether he believed his accuser was lying, or if the suit was part of a broader political hit job.

Beach-Mathura — who now resides in Florida but at the time lived on Coney Island — claimed in court papers that the alleged assault unfolded when she went to Adams for help after being passed over for a promotion as a black woman in the NYPD.

She went to Adams because, at the time, he was the leader of the Transit Bureau NYPD Guardians Association, which fights for rights of black employees, per the suit.

“Defendant Adams preyed on her perceived vulnerability, demanding a quid pro quo sexual favor and sexually assaulting Plaintiff, revealing himself not to be the ‘Guardian’ he purported to be, but a predator,” the filing charges.  

The graphic allegations surfaced months after Beach-Mathura submitted a notice of claim in November indicating she intended to slap Hizzoner with the sexual assault lawsuit.

In a statement on Monday, Hinds-Radix called the allegations “outrageous” and said the mayor “fully denies” the claims.

“While we review the complaint, the mayor fully denies these outrageous allegations and the events described here; we expect full vindication in court,” the statement read.

“Additionally, in 1993, Eric Adams was one of the most prominent public opponents of the racism within the NYPD, which is why the suit’s allegations that he had any sway over promotions of civilian employees is ludicrous.”