WORLD WORLDWIDE US USA - New York NY - New York City NYC - the city THE CITY - Online news journal UPDATE - Adams aide still without city lawyer, a donor’s past, eclipse glasses

 

Dear New Yorkers,

Nearly a week after a top aide to Mayor Eric Adams was accused of on-the-job sexual harassment in a civil lawsuit, the city Law Department has yet to determine whether it will represent Tim Pearson as the defendant city employee in that case.

By contrast, the department immediately announced it would represent Adams after a former civilian NYPD employee filed a lawsuit accusing him of sexually assaulting her nearly three decades ago when both worked as police officers.

When asked yesterday by THE CITY about the status of legal representation in Pearson’s case, the city's top lawyer, Sylvia Hinds-Radix, said a review process is ongoing.

The lawsuit was filed last Thursday by Roxanne Ludemann, a former NYPD sergeant. It accuses Pearson with a longstanding pattern of unwanted touching and inappropriate comments.

Her suit alleges that he had a regular habit of asking her if she was happy in her marriage and routinely rubbing her shoulders or arm during conversations. She said he would often “lick his lips when he is talking and open his legs when speaking to women in an overtly sexual way.”

Ludemann also alleges Pearson retaliated against her when she rebuffed his advances.

Read more about the case — and whether the city will offer taxpayer-funded lawyers to Pearson as it did Adams — here.

Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Wednesday's Weather Rating: 3/10. Increasing clouds, with periods of fog and drizzle expected. Steady showers move in by late afternoon and early evening. It's a bit warmer, with highs in the mid-50s, but that's about all that we have going for us today. The vibes aren’t great!

Our Other Top Stories

Qin Hui, a billionaire who apparently made straw donations to Mayor Eric Adams, has a checkered past in China, reports The Wire China. Qin pled guilty last Monday in federal court to illegally funneling more than $11,000 worth of donations to politicians in New York and Rhode Island — and although Adams was not named in court documents, the New York Times reported that the mayor was one beneficiary of the scheme. Qin is a former high-end nightclub owner in Beijing who launched a media empire in the early 2000s; he was also involved in a high-profile bribery case in China and punished by the country’s securities regulator, and was married to the relative of a senior Chinese political leader. Manhattan Community Board 1 passed a resolution rejecting an e-bike charging hub slated to replace an abandoned newsstand outside City Hall — on the grounds that it was “too modern” for the landmarked area, and that it might complicate crowd control in a place where pedestrians and demonstrators often gather. It was an advisory vote that will not brake the project, which is backed by nearly $1 million in federal infrastructure dollars. But delivery workers and representatives for elected officials and the parks department had urged CB1 to support it. The kiosk is intended to help delivery workers keep moving and spare e-bike users and their neighbors from the fire risk of charging the devices at home. Fires caused by lithium-ion batteries have surged in recent years, with 18 New Yorkers dying in blazes caused by exploding batteries last year, according to the FDNY. There have been more than 30 fires attributed to lithium-ion batteries so far in 2024.

Reporter’s Notebook

No Change at Top for NYCHA, Says Adams Deputy

The top deputy to Eric Adams shot down a suggestion by NYCHA's former independent monitor to make the agency's chairperson — currently a volunteer job — into a full-time salaried position.

Last week monitor Bart Schwartz, who is finishing a five-year run, criticized NYCHA's leadership for failing to efficiently and aggressively confront the troubled authority's management problems, including calling out the board — most of whom are appointed by Adams — for setting up committees that have never met. Schwartz suggested making the current chair position, now held by Adams' appointee Jamie Rubin, a full-time paid position.

But speaking with THE CITY Tuesday, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright dismissed that idea, praising Rubin as "hands on" and stating, "I think the way it's structured now is good."

Adams, meanwhile, declined to weigh in on Schwartz's recommendation, but made a point of slapping back at Schwartz's final report, stating, "Where was he all this time? He's been there for years. The problems of NYCHA did not start on January 1, 2022" — the day Adams was sworn into office.

— Greg B. Smith

Ex-Jails Commish Passed Over for Oakland Police Chief Job

Louis Molina, the former head of the city’s beleaguered Department of Correction, was in the running to become the police chief for Oakland, Calif.

On Friday, he lost out to Floyd Mitchell, formerly police chief in Lubbock, Texas.

While Molina headed the city’s Department of Correction he was repeatedly slammed by a federal monitor overseeing the agency for trying to hide unfavorable statistics and violent incidents — and THE CITY’s reporting was cited in local coverage of Oakland’s search for a new top cop.

Molina remains in his recently appointed role as an assistant deputy mayor for public safety for New York City under Phil Banks.

— Reuven Blau

Things To Do

Here’s what’s going on around the city this week.

Thursday, March 28: The New York Public Library’s March Book Club event, featuring “Anita de Monte Laughs Last” author Xochitl Gonzalez. Free from 6 to 7 p.m. online and in-person at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library in Manhattan. Saturday, March 30: Activists on Screen: Queer Gaze in Cinema, a pair of films followed by a conversation about trans New Yorkers’ lives. Tickets are $10 ($5 for members), at 3 p.m. at the Museum of the City of New York. Saturday, March 30: Let's Go Birding Together, an inclusive event for all levels of curiosity and expertise, hosted by NYC Audubon. Free from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Icahn Stadium, Randall’s Island Park.

THE KICKER: Here’s where to get free solar eclipse glasses in NYC, so you can watch the sun (mostly) disappear on April 8 without damaging your eyes.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Wednesday.

Love,

THE CITY

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