'This did not happen': Mayor Adams denies sexual assault allegations

NEW YORK CITY - Mayor Eric Adams adamantly denied the sexual assault allegations lodged against him by a woman who says she worked with Adams in the transit department in 1993.

"This did not happen," Mayor Adams said during his press briefing on Tuesday. "Did not happen."

Adams says he does not recall meeting the woman – Lorna Beach-Mathura – and apologized to his girlfriend and son.

According to court papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday, Beach- Mathura alleges that Adams tried to force her to perform a sexual act in return for his help on a promotion.

Adams was working as a transit cop at the time and was the leader of the Transit Bureau NYPD Guardians Association, which fights for the rights of black employees.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a news conference in the Blue Room at City Hall, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. (Jeff Bachner/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Beach-Mathura filed the lawsuit under the Adult Survivor’s Act, which gave survivors of sexual assault a one-year window to sue their alleged abusers. She is suing Adams for $5 million.

Beach-Mathura has a history of filing several lawsuits and has written a self-published book about how to represent yourself in court.

In a statement sent on Monday, Beach-Mathura’s lawyer said that Beach-Mathura came forward because "she believes sexual abusers must be held to account, no matter who they are."

However, on the hook for Adams’ legal fees are New York taxpayers.

The city’s corporation counsel, Sylvia Hinds-Radix, is representing the mayor and said city attorneys have the discretion to represent former employees of the transit bureau.

Council Speaker Adrienne Adams on Tuesday said they will review the legality of corp counsel representing the Mayor in this lawsuit, but says right now it is not raising any red flags.

"I think Judge Radix answered the question a lot," Speaker Adams said. "I'm going to stand right now with what corp counsel said in her response."

Mayor Adams’ legal counsel stopped him multiple times from commenting on specifics about the sexual assault lawsuit, during his press conference on Tuesday.

Adams says in the meantime he is going to:

We reached out to Beach-Mathura's lawyer today for a response to Mayor Adams' comments, but she did not get back to us by air time.