Mayor Eric Adams has been accused of sexual assault in a legal action filed Wednesday night in a New York court, The Messenger has learned.
The plaintiff in the case, a woman whose name is being withheld by The Messenger due to the nature of the allegation, filed a summons Wednesday night in state Supreme Court in Manhattan under the Adult Survivors Act that names the Big Apple Democrat as a defendant.
The filing also names the transit bureau of the New York Police Department and the Guardian Association of the NYPD as defendants.
“Plaintiff was sexually assaulted by Defendant Eric Adams in New York, New York in 1993 while they both worked for the City of New York,” the summons alleges.
In New York civil court, a plaintiff can file a summons with notice to begin a legal action — followed by a full complaint laying out the claims.
The summons is just three pages and does not reveal any detail about the alleged assault.
In a statement, a City Hall spokesperson said the mayor denies the claim and does not know the plaintiff in the case.
“If they ever met, he doesn’t recall it,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “But he would never do anything to physically harm another person and vigorously denies any such claim.”
The plaintiff’s attorney, Megan Goddard, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The woman is seeking a trial and at least $5 million in relief, according to the filing.
The Adult Survivors Act went into effect in New York in November 2022 and opened a one-year window for sexual abuse accusers to file suits in state and federal courts about claims that would have been time-barred by the statute of limitations. That window expires Friday.
A number of celebrities, politicians and sports stars have been sued under the law, including in a flurry of last-minute filings filed in recent days ahead of the window expiring.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose, comedian Bill Cosby, Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr., and rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs have all had last-minute claims filed against them under the law.
Combs settled his suit, brought by his former girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, a day after it was filed.
Adams, a former NYPD captain, was elected mayor of New York in 2021 after serving most recently as the borough president of Brooklyn.
He’s come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks after the FBI raided the home of his campaign’s chief fundraiser in a probe about whether they accepted illegal contributions from Turkey.
Days after the raid, FBI agents seized the mayor’s cellphones and iPad after approaching him on the street after he attended an event in Manhattan, the New York Times reported.
Adams has said he is cooperating with investigators, and he’s said he has “nothing to hide” about the probe.
No one has been charged with any crime in the probe and Adams has denied any wrongdoing.
