New York City Will Defend Mayor Adams In Sexual Assault Case

NEW YORK — Taxpayers are funding Mayor Eric Adams’ defense against allegations of sexual assault.

The New York City Law Department will represent the mayor against a detailed legal complaint stemming from his time as a transit police officer 30 years ago.

Speaking a day after the lawsuit was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Adams strenuously denied Tuesday that he forced a then-colleague into a sex act in exchange for his help with her career.

But he has no plans to hire private lawyers for the case.

“He’s not going to be answering specifics of the complaint,” said the city’s corporation counsel, Sylvia Hinds-Radix, who sat with the mayor at his weekly, wide-ranging news conference.

Hinds-Radix said city attorneys are obligated to represent employees of the transit bureau that eventually merged with the NYPD, but, pressed by reporters, she also acknowledged they have discretion over which cases they take up.

“The corporation counsel has, based on the law and the charter, the ability to evaluate and make the determination,” she said. “We get that question if a police officer is accused of having done something.”

In this case, Adams, the city of New York, the NYPD’s transit bureau and Guardians Association and three unnamed entities are being sued under the state Adult Survivors Act.

A former transit bureau employee alleges that Adams drove her to a vacant lot in 1993 and demanded oral sex from her in addition to placing her hand on his genitals and masturbating in front of her.

She also accused Adams of retaliation, using his influence to transfer her to another department.

There have been instances in the past when the city Law Department did not indemnify police officers in sexual misconduct cases.

State law maintains that the city shall defend its employees against allegations “within the scope of his public employment and in the discharge of his duties.”

“This needs scrutiny,” City Council Member Gale Brewer had posted on X, formerly Twitter, last November, when Adams said the corporation counsel would be representing him after a court filing was first made in the case.

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said Tuesday she would “review” the question of the mayor’s legal representation, but didn’t seem to have much of an appetite for the issue.

“I think Judge Radix answered the question a lot,” she said. “I’m going to stand right now with what corp counsel said in her response.”

The city has an interest in the case, in part because it’s a co-defendant, Victor Kovner, a former New York City corporation counsel, said in an interview.

“It is not unusual or atypical for the corporation counsel or city law department to defend the city and the employee,” he said. “There are some exceptions to that, but that’s the basic practice.”

Adams rejected the sexual assault charges against him Tuesday as vehemently as he did in November.

“This did not happen. It did not happen. I don’t ever recall meeting this person during my time in the police department,” the mayor said Thursday.

He clarified later in the news conference that he said he doesn’t remember meeting the complainant, not that he never met her.

Jeff Coltin contributed to this report.