Mayor Eric Adams sat down in April 2022 with News 12’s Tara Rosenblum for the Turn to Tara: Under The Gun special, during which he showed her a photo of the late Robert Venable - a former colleague. He claimed to carry it with him at all times.
The New York Times reports the photo only made it to the mayor’s wallet days after his claim, and that City Hall staffers were instructed to create a photo of the officer. They say that the photo was printed in black and white, and that staff even splashed coffee on the photo to make it appear aged.
The mayor’s office released a full statement that included the following response:
“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.”