In their latest aggressive hit on NYC Mayor Eric Adams, the New York Times published a story accusing the Big Apple leader and his aides of forging a picture of a fallen colleague that he claimed to have kept in his wallet for years.
Adams, a Democrat and former police captain, claimed during his first month in office to keep a picture of Officer Robert Venable, who died in he line-of-duty in 1987, in his wallet.
He made the claim following the tragic death of two New York City police officers, who were shot while responding to a domestic disturbance.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams was apparently caught in another smalltime lie by the New York Times
Adams, a Democrat and former police captain, claimed during his first month in office to keep a picture of Officer Robert Venable (pictured), who died in he line-of-duty in 1987, in his wallet
A week later, Adams showed off the picture of Venable during a photoshoot with the New York Times in his office. He then retold the story during multiple interviews and a Police Academy ceremony.
During an NYT interview, Adams said the photo was ‘always in my wallet until my wallet got too bulky.’
‘He was a very dear friends and it keeps me committed,’ he added.
But, the Times recently revealed that the picture is a fake. Not only had it not spent years in the Mayor’s wallet, but it was created by City Hall aides in the days after Adams made the original claim.
A picture of Venable was found on Google, printed in black-and-white and made to look worn using the old high-school history project trick of pouring a few drops of coffee on it.
Two former City Hall employees who spoke to the Times said they were informed of the picture and its true origins last year, soon after its creation.
A spokesperson for the Mayor’s office lashed out at the paper, without entirely denying the accusation.
‘The Times’s efforts to attack the mayor here would be laughable if it were not so utterly offensive,’ said Fabien Levy in a Wednesday statement, calling the story part of a ‘campaign to paint the mayor as a liar.’
He insisted that Adams had in fact carried a picture of Venable for decades after the officer’s slaying, but refused to answer anymore questions about the newly printed, coffee stained photo.
Several former transit police colleagues questioned by the Times confirmed that Adams and Venable had been friends.
The Times characterized many of Adams’ quirky, down-to-earth anecdotes as ‘difficult to verify.’
He was memorably forced to recant his claim that he is a vegan when multiple reports of him eating fish at some of Manhattan’s hottest restaurants came out.
During the campaign, his claim that he lived in a Brooklyn apartment was also challenged by the Times, and several of his real-estate holdings still spark concern from several of the paper’s journalists.
Adams previously described Venable as ‘one of my closest friends,’ and said that he’d ‘died when he was shot in the head when responding to a job.’
‘We were going away that week and going on vacation together,’ he recounted.
Januari Venable, Robert’s daughter, who was eight when her father was killed, said she did not remember ever meeting Adams until this year. She did not, however, seem particularly concerned with the authenticity of the mayor’s claims about the picture.
‘All I can say is that as far as being in his wallet or not, the fact that people still think of my dad all these years later – whatever the meaning behind it – it makes me thankful that he’s not being forgotten,’ she said.