Mayor Eric Adams strenuously denied sexually assaulting a colleague in 1993 after asking her for a sexual favor, saying on Tuesday that the accusation made by a former colleague was completely false.
“This did not happen — it did not happen,” Mr. Adams said in his first remarks since the detailed allegations emerged in a legal claim filed on Monday. “I don’t recall ever meeting this person during my time in the Police Department.”
The lawsuit was filed in New York Supreme Court as part of the state’s Adult Survivors Act, which provided a window for people to bring lawsuits over sexual assaults that might have occurred years ago.
A woman claimed that Mr. Adams requested oral sex from her in exchange for career help when they worked together at New York City’s Transit Police Department. When she refused, he forced her to touch his penis and ejaculated on her, the complaint said.
At his weekly news conference, Mr. Adams did not take long to address the accusations, bringing them up before being asked about it.
He repeated his motto — “stay focused, no distractions and grind” — and said he had always carried himself “with a level of dignity” that New Yorkers expect.
