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New York City’s corporation counsel is asking to pull the city’s legal support from former Mayor Eric Adams in a civil sexual-assault lawsuit, according to a court filing filed Tuesday. The request comes under the administration of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a few months after he took office following last year’s bitter Democratic primary season in which Mamdani and Adams attacked each other repeatedly.
The lawsuit accuses Adams of sexually assaulting Lorna Beach-Mathura in 1993, when he was a police officer. The filing says the alleged assault occurred decades ago and that Beach-Mathura’s claim is connected to her request for help in advancing her career in the police department. Adams has vehemently denied the allegations and said he does not remember meeting Beach-Mathura.
In response to the city’s move, Todd Shapiro, a spokesperson for Adams, said the former mayor “remains confident that the facts will ultimately prevail.” Mamdani’s administration said the review process is not directed by the mayor, with a spokesperson stating it was “made independently by the Corporation Counsel, as is required by law.” Dora Pekec, the spokesperson, added: “Of course, Mayor Mamdani has full faith and confidence in the Corporation Counsel’s independent judgment and in his ability to reach the appropriate and just legal conclusions.”
The corporation counsel’s motion argues that Adams is not entitled to city-funded legal support because, at the time of the alleged assault, he was “not acting within the scope of his City employment.” A city spokesperson said that distinction is being handled through the legal department’s independent responsibility.
The case was brought under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, a state law that extended the time limit for sexual-assault lawsuits. According to the filing discussion, Beach-Mathura first entered a claim in November 2023, shortly before the law’s expiration, and later filed a detailed lawsuit against Adams.
Adams’ relationship with Mamdani has been marked by political hostility since the two entered the campaign season as Democrats competing for the city’s top job. Adams bowed out of the Democratic primary following a federal corruption case that was dismissed after an intervention from the Trump administration, and he later ran for reelection as an independent. During that bid, Adams cast Mamdani as an out-of-touch liberal and child of privilege, while Mamdani sought to portray Adams as a corrupt leader whose relationship with the Trump administration compromised his ability to govern.
After Adams withdrew from the race altogether, endorsing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s candidacy, Adams continued to criticize Mamdani. The lawsuit is one of several legal battles tied to Adams’ post-police career that Mamdani’s administration is now confronting through the question of whether the city will continue paying for the defense.
In addition to seeking to withdraw from Adams’ case, the city’s law department has also said it will no longer pay for legal representation for two close allies of Adams in separate matters, according to the report. The Adams lawsuit itself proceeds as a civil case rather than a criminal proceeding, and it remains pending as the parties litigate the allegations and the city’s funding decision.