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.  

Now, the New York Times is reporting that his claims may be untrue. 

In Adams’ interview with Rosenblum, he talked about the painful loss of officers William Mora and Jason Rivera, recalling the personal pain of losing his former colleague Robert Venable and showing the photo that he says he always has with him.   “Watching the families that night… you think about that. And every day that I’m on this journey, I realize that I have to do everything in my power not to allow that to happen again,” said Adams in his 2022 interview. MORE: WATCH: 'Under the Gun'- Mayor Adams tells Tara Rosenblum about plans to curb gun violence

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.”