Mayor Adams with the image he was accused of forgery. Photo: An Rong Xu/The New York Times
New York Mayor and his staff pour coffee over a photograph of a murdered police officer and pretend to keep the image in their wallet for years.
Eric Adams is a Democrat and a former police captain and anti-crime campaigner.
He often talked about keeping in his wallet a photograph of his late friend and colleague, Officer Robert Venable, who died in the line of duty in 1987.< /p>
>However, the New York Times reported on Thursday that the wallet-sized photo of Officer Venable shown by the mayor was actually a recently printed Google image that had been altered to look old.
Mr. Adams responded by accusing the paper of a “disgusting and false attack” against him.
The City Hall released statements by Officer Venable's relatives confirming their close friendship as two young black NYPD officers in the 1980s years.
Shortly after Mr. Adams became mayor in January 2022, two police officers were killed in a high-profile incident in Harlem.
At a press conference, Mr. Adams said it reminded him of the death of a friend 35 years ago.
He said: “I still think about Robert. I have a picture of Robert in my wallet.”
Officer Robert Venable was killed in the line of duty in 1987. : An Rong Xu/The New York Times
The New York Times subsequently requested a photograph, and a week later Mr. Adams posed with a small, rumpled photograph of Officer Venable.
He later showed the photo while speaking at a ceremony at the Police Academy, calling Officer Venable “one of my closest friends.”
However, this week the New York Times reported that after Adams first said that He carried a photograph of Officer Venable in his wallet for many years, employees were ordered to create his photograph.
Citing a “person familiar with the request” and two former city hall aides, the paper said that With the help of Google a photograph of the deceased officer was found.
It was then printed in black and white and looked aged, including from splashes of coffee, according to the New York Times.
The City Hall said in a statement: “To be clear, Mayor Adams photocopied the photograph of the officer Venable, which was printed in the November 1987 NYPD News Bulletin, which Mayor Adams still owns and was seen by the Times.
His spokesman Fabien Levy said, “It is disgusting that The New York Times has chosen to let Robert Venable's friends and family relive the tragic murder of a loved one, only to satisfy its obsession with analyzing every moment of Mayor Adams's life as the newspaper continues its unsuccessful campaign to making the mayor a liar.
'Bad allegations'
“More than 30 years ago, after the assassination of Officer Venable, then-Officer Adams made a copy of a published photograph of Officer Venable. from the NYPD News Bulletin, a document he still has to this day.
“For decades, Mayor Adams carried around a photograph of his friend who died in the line of duty, and the Times' attempts to attack the mayor here would be laughable if they weren't so offensive.”
The mayor's office also released statements from members of Officer Venable's family.
Januari Venable, daughter of the late officer, said: “I was only eight years old when my father was killed. I don't remember most of the people who were close to my family, but in the 36 years since I lost my father, Eric Adams was there even after the cameras were gone.
“When I called him at the last minute to attend my father's wake, the mayor was there. When the mayor met my son at that very memorial, he immediately recognized my father's smile.”
Former NYPD Detective Sam Calhoun, who served with Officer Venable and Mr. Adams, said: [Officer Venable's] coffin ] at his funeral, I am shocked by this line of interrogation and baseless accusations.
“Without a doubt, Eric, Robert and I were close friends. Eric was at Bobby's funeral.”
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