Back from Albania, a bitter Eric Adams meets the press

New York City Mayor Eric Adams attacked a reporter from the Daily News at a press conference Friday, describing him as a “dark, sick person” for co-bylining a story that said Adams and his ex-girlfriend Jasmine Ray had sex for the first time at Brooklyn Borough Hall years ago.

“You are a dark, sick person, man, you know that? You are a dark, sick person,” Adams said, addressing Daily News reporter Chris Sommerfeldt directly, denying that the sexual act was described in a memoir written by Ray. “Some of you have been covering me for three-and-a-half years, some of you are so sick and dark, and you are the leader of that. You are one of the most dark writers that I’ve ever seen in this city. Your personal, sick vendetta and the sickness of how you think of oversexualizing a Black man.”

The Daily News story cited Ray’s new tell-all book, "Political Humanity: A Memoir of Love, Legacy and New York City Politics,” about her romantic relationship with Adams, which played out between 2014 and 2016 – before the mayor appointed her to a senior role in his administration.

“In the Daily News today, it was stated that there was a sexual action that happened in Borough Hall that was reported in that book … and there wasn’t,” the mayor said.

It’s true that the book didn’t say they had sex that night, though it did imply that some sort of romantic encounter took place. Ray wrote there was a moment in which “there was no turning back,” as Adams “made up his mind,” “closed the distance like a man stepping into something he couldn’t walk back from” and told Ray, “fuck it.” “After we crossed that line, the love and the fun only intensified,” she wrote.

The Daily News’ story was published after Adams endorsed the book on X Thursday. "Writing this book wasn’t easy, but she wanted people to understand the work, the mission, and the human side behind the headlines,” he wrote, referencing Ray. “I respect her for that and I enjoyed reading it.”

"The Daily News is not the story here," Daily News executive editor Andrew Julien said. "Any questions about the mayor's comments should be directed to the mayor."

The mayor took shots at reporters repeatedly throughout the press conference, which took place in the Times Square subway station and centered on the success of his subway safety initiative launched last October. While Sommerfeldt was the only person Adams attacked by name, he also accused the press of never reporting on his successes, unfairly covering his indictment, and ultimately, for contributing to his downfall. All this, “broke” his heart, Adams said. 

“Just report the facts and stop coming up with these creative ways of saying Eric failed,” the mayor said. “Eric didn’t fail. Eric did the job of a working-class mayor.”