Eric Adams, the embattled Democrat mayor of New York City, has just been accused in a sexual assault allegedly dating back to 1993, according to NBC News, just as reports also suggest that his relationship with President Joe Biden is at an all-time low.
News of the legal claim against Adams comes at a time when the FBI is said to be probing his conduct in relation to the opening of the Turkish consulate in Manhattan, which some say involved undue pressure on New York Fire Department officials, as Fox News notes, and when tensions between the mayor and the Biden administration are running high over the migrant crisis gripping the Big Apple.
The sexual assault allegation against Adams comes from a woman who says that she was a city employee at the time of the events at issue, and she is now seeking damages of at least $5 million.
Despite the significant age of the woman's claim, her attorneys have deemed the accusation timely under the law due to the New York Adult Survivors act, a law that provided sexual assault victims one year to file a lawsuit related to such conduct, regardless of the originally applicable statute of limitations.
The period provided by the law was set to expire two days before the claim against Adams was filed, and the complaint, therefore, narrowly beat the deadline, as have recent claimants against notable figures including actor Jamie Foxx and music industry mogul Sean Combs.
According to the plaintiff, she was subjected to sexual assault, battery, gender discrimination in employment, retaliation, hostile work environment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, all things that allegedly resulted from Adams' actions.
“The claims brought here allege intentional and negligent acts and omissions for physical, psychological, and other injuries suffered as a result of conduct that would constitute sexual offenses,” the complaint explains.
Reacting to the lawsuit, a spokesperson from City Hall said that Adams has no recollection of ever even meeting the plaintiff in the case.
The representative for Adams said, “The mayor does not know who this person is. If they ever met, he doesn't recall it.”
“But he would never do anything to physically harm another person and vigorously denies any such claim, the spokesperson added.
Adams himself confronted the claim directly, saying, “The accusation absolutely did not happen. I don't recall who this person is. I never recall even meeting them. I spent my life protecting people.”
The controversy comes just as Adams' relationship the Biden White House has been under increased scrutiny, both with regard to the FBI probe of the Turkish consulate scenario as well as the mayor's criticism of the administration's handling of the southern border and the increasingly unmanageable migrant influx in New York City.
Despite his status as the Democratic mayor of one of America's largest cities, Fox News reports that Adams has not spoken with Biden in nearly a year, and he recently announced that severe cuts to New York City's sanitation, police, and education budgets would be necessary due to the lack of federal assistance to handle the arrivals.
Adams said earlier this fall, “Never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to. I don't see an ending to this. I don't see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City,” and those comments surely did little to help his standing with the president, who had already booted the mayor from his campaign advisory board, further underscoring the depth of their rift.
