[snip]
The mayor’s veto statement claimed the bill amounted to a free $300 million “debit card” for law firm Levy Konigsberg, which reps a large swath of alleged victims bringing such claims, including under previous “look back” legislation like the state’s Adult Survivors Act and the Child Survivors Act.
In a statement to The Post on Thursday, soon-to-be Speaker Julie Menin vowed that the incoming council would vote to override Adams’ veto in the new year.
“The Mayor’s veto message suddenly mentions a price tag to the City that was simply never raised in their testimony at the hearing,” Menin said.
[snip]
“Just as our majority-women Council stood with survivors and voted unanimously in favor, we will vote to override the Mayor’s veto.”
The next council will have 30 days to override the veto after the lawmakers’ first official meeting in January. Three-fourths of the 51-member body would have to vote in support of nixing Adams’ veto for the law to take effect.
“While City Hall claimed it wanted to support victims, that is impossible to square with blocking legislation designed to do exactly that,” Queens Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers, the bill’s author, said in a statement.
“Justice isn’t a talking point to survivors, it’s the difference between silence and accountability.”
[snip]
The new bill would allow hundreds of suits from alleged victims, including against Spofford, the former Bronx Juvenile Detention Center, or those abused by convicted rapist Dr. Ricardo Cruciani, who have accused Mt. Sinai Hospital systems of a cover-up.
[snip]
“Domestic violence is a serious crime and perpetrators of this act of violence must be held accountable and brought to justice, but this bill would allow a single law firm that lobbied Speaker [Adrienne] Adams and the City Council to pocket up to $300 million of taxpayer funds while reviving claims that have already been dismissed,” the mayor said in a statement.
“This is not justice but a windfall for a fancy law firm to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars at the expense of survivors as well as all New York taxpayers.”
[snip]
Jerome Block, an attorney at Levy Konigsberg LLP, said that the mayor’s veto was “callous” and attempting to “deprive survivors of their legal rights”
“Mayor Adams’ veto will not stand. The survivors who fought for Intro 1297 [Gender Motivated Violence Act] will ultimately prevail. We are confident that this shocking Christmas Eve veto will be overridden by the City Council,” he said in a statement.
[snip]
“Mayor Adams has chosen to use his final days in office to attempt to deny survivors of sexual and gender-motivated violence the opportunity to hold their abusers accountable,” Julia Agos, a spokeswoman for the speaker, said in a statement.
[snip]
“As one of his last acts in office, Mayor Adams vetoed legislation to help sexual abuse victims of Jeffrey Epstein. Think about that.”
* Original Article:
https://nypost.com/2025/12/25/us-news/council-gearing-up-to-nix-mayor-adams-christmas-eve-veto-of-sex-abuse-victims-bill/
