Michael Gartland
New York Daily News
(TNS)
Mayor Adams laced into The New York Times on Thursday over a story suggesting he lied about carrying a photo of a friend and NYPD officer who was killed in the line of duty more than three decades ago.
The Times story, which was published online Wednesday morning, states Adams hadn’t carried the photo of Officer Robert Venable in his wallet for years — despite the mayor’s claims to the contrary.
The Times also said the photo was created and doctored to appear weathered by Adams’ staff after the paper requested to see it.
Since becoming mayor, Adams — a former NYPD captain — has referred to Venable and the photo of him on several occasions, often to illustrate the dangerous nature of policing in New York City.
In April, Adams told News 12: “I always have Robert’s picture.”
According to reports citing sources inside of the mayor's office, NYC Mayor Eric Adams had his aides print a picture from Google and use coffee to make the picture appear older, so it would match up with his story about carrying the photo in his wallet for years pic.twitter.com/2ny4y4pTKE
— The Hypocrisy Files (@HypocrisyFiles) July 7, 2023
After the Times article appeared online, Adams — in a remarkable move — doubled down with this side of the story in a lengthy statement pushing back against the Times’ claims, as well as the story’s initial premise, which the mayor’s press office described as a “fabricated narrative.”
“It is disgusting that The New York Times has chosen to have Robert Venable’s friends and family relive the tragic murder of a loved one for nothing more than feeding its obsession with dissecting every single moment of Mayor Adams’ life,” Adams’ spokesman Fabien Levy said.
“Over 30 years ago, after Officer Venable’s murder, then-Officer Adams made a copy of a photo published of Officer Venable from an NYPD Transit News Bulletin — a document he still has to this day. For decades, Mayor Adams has carried a picture of his friend who died in the line of duty.”
A spokesman for the Times responded by pointing out that “the mayor and his office don’t deny the story’s main point: that the photo he showed to reporters and claimed to have carried for decades was made by aides, who took steps to age its appearance.”
The initial premise of the Times story, according to a statement put out by Adams’ team, was that the mayor and Venable “were never friends” — an allegation Team Adams’ maintains was disproven.
In its account, the Times points to a source familiar with someone in the administration’s request to create a photo of Venable, as well as two other sources who were “informed about the manipulated photo last year, not long after it was created.”
Who exactly ordered the creation and doctoring of the new photo is unclear, but Levy denied that the mayor himself made such a demand of his staff. He did not, however, deny that such a request was made by someone else in the administration.
Since becoming mayor a year and a half ago, Adams has regularly tangled with the press about stories he dislikes.
In January, he launched a newsletter to counteract what he described as “distorted” journalism. And a month later, he groused that outlets weren’t giving him enough credit for his “unprecedented victories.”
But the broadside against the Times is different. The paper’s editorial endorsement is coveted by the left, and New York City mayors typically don’t dissect the reporting of journalists publicly through their press offices.
In its statement, Team Adams goes so far as to delve into what it characterizes as the story’s initial, unpublished premise and includes quotes from Venable’s relatives, some of whom were also quoted in the Times.
Venable’s niece, Meredith Benson, demanded an apology from the Times, saying she’s “furious … for making us relive this trauma.”
Januari Venable, Robert’s daughter — who was 8 years old at the time of his death — told the Times that she didn’t recall meeting Adams until this year, that she was surprised the mayor carried her dad’s photo, but that “it makes me thankful that he’s not being forgotten.”
Another statement released by Adams put a slightly different spin on the matter, but did not specify exactly when Januari Venable and the mayor first met.
“I don’t remember most of the people who were there for my family, but in the 36 years since I lost my father, Eric Adams has been there, even after the cameras were gone,” Januari Venable said in that statement issued by the mayor’s office.
“Eric personally drove me and my family to Fourth of July fireworks in the past, and when I called him last minute to attend a memorial for my father, the mayor was there.”
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