Mayor Adams took a shot Thursday on the lawyer representing 4 retired NYPD chiefs suing him and senior division officers over allegations of cronyism and corruption, claiming her ongoing criticism of him raises questions concerning the accusations.
Adams, who declined to deal with the substance of the ex-chiefs’ damning allegations, known as the lawyer, Sarena Townsend, “a former DOC employee that has basically been stalking me.”
Townsend then went into personal regulation observe and has been an outspoken critic of Adams’ mayoralty, particularly his insurance policies on the beleaguered metropolis jails, and dealt with a number of high-profile circumstances as a plaintiff lawyer.
Townsend responded to Adams’ feedback saying the mayor ought to contemplate his phrases extra rigorously.
townsend
Barry Williams for New York Day by day Information
Sarena Townsend, Esq., Former Division of Correction Deputy Commissioner Investigation and Trials Division in Queens in 2019.
Throughout her tenure with town, Townsend was the deputy commissioner of trials and investigations overseeing the Correction Division’s disciplinary system. She was additionally tapped as a liaison with the federal monitor monitoring violence and use of power within the jails.
Townsend, an ex-assistant district lawyer within the Brooklyn DA’s workplace, added: “I was once told when you don’t have a viable defense to a case, that’s when you have to rely on personal attacks.”
“The lawsuits are all meritorious and have nothing to do with me.”
The 4 ex-chiefs, from left, Christopher McCormack, Matthew Pontillo, Joseph Veneziano and James Essig. (New York Day by day Information; NYPD)
The 4 ex-chiefs allege Adams allowed ex-Police Commissioner Edward Caban, ex-Chief of Division Jeffrey Maddrey and different shut advisers to govern promotions and assignments for his or her cronies in violation of longstanding guidelines. In an particularly damning declare, one of many ex-chiefs allege Caban was “selling” NYPD promotions to friends for as a lot as $15,000, an accusation apparently underneath federal investigation.
The 4 ex-chiefs say they had been pressured out of the police division by Adams and the others after they complained.
“I think if you look at some of [Townsend’s] comments that she made online you really get an indicator of exactly what this is about,” Adams mentioned when requested concerning the lawsuits after an unrelated press convention in Brooklyn Thursday.
Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak earlier within the week responded to the lawsuits by saying “the Adams administration holds all city employees — including leadership at the NYPD — to the highest standards … We will review the lawsuits.”
Requested about Townsend’s accusation the mayor’s remarks had been defamatory, Mamelak famous “stalk” means to “harass or persecute (someone) with unwanted and obsessive attention.”
Mamelak additionally expanded on her boss’ feedback about Townsend.
“One thing is abundantly clear: these are deceptive, self-serving claims filed by a disgruntled former employee with a personal vendetta who was terminated from her city role and has spent the past three years waging a social media campaign against Mayor Adams and this administration,” she mentioned.
