{"id":17640,"date":"2025-10-26T21:58:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T21:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/17640\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T21:58:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T21:58:07","slug":"exclusive-sex-abuse-vics-slam-nyc-council-speaker-for-blocking-bill-allowing-more-suits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/17640\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | Sex-abuse vics slam NYC Council speaker for blocking bill allowing more suits –"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sex-abuse survivors and advocates are slamming City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams<\/a> for blocking a \u201clook-back\u201d bill that would give more victims the ability to sue \u2014 including against Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s estate.<\/p>\n

Jesse Campoamor, a lobbyist working with a firm repping scores of plaintiffs against the city, said he can\u2019t recall a bill with this level of council support having trouble reaching the floor and getting a vote.<\/p>\n

He suggested the issue could come down to simply petty politics.<\/p>\n

Sex-abuse survivors and advocates blasted City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams for not supporting a bill that would give more victims the ability to sue. Michael Brochstein\/ZUMA \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

\u201cI usually steer clear of speculation, but there\u2019s been chatter that some lingering tension from the last mayoral race may be at play, that the speaker was disappointed the bill\u2019s author [Queens Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers] endorsed [ex-Gov. Andrew] Cuomo over her despite their long-standing mentor\u2013mentee relationship,\u201d Campoamor told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that\u2019s a factor, it would be deeply disheartening, given what\u2019s at stake for survivors,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

The bill aims to give victims a year starting in March 2026 to sue the city and institutions that helped facilitate the abuse against them, regardless of when the incidents occurred.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s statute of limitation on such suits is now nine years after the reported incident.<\/p>\n

The proposed legislation would cover suits against city workers such as at its jails and institutions including the Mt. Sinai Hospital system, which was sued for allegedly covering up<\/a> the abuse of 19 patients.<\/p>\n

Khalid Melvin is one of hundreds of victims attempting to sue the city over abuse encountered at juvenile jails. Robert Miller<\/p>\n

The bill also would allow victims of notorious late sex fiend Jeffrey Epstein to sue his estate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they don\u2019t allow a vote and they don\u2019t pass this bill, they are literally protecting Jeffrey Epstein,\u201d Jordan Merson, a lawyer representing about 40 Epstein victims<\/a>, said of the bill\u2019s foes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can either side with Jeffrey Epstein and protect him or side with the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and allow them to try to get justice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The bill has languished in the council since it was introduced in May and only received its first hearing this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re literally talking about the legal rights of hundreds of survivors of sexual violence in New York City that either are going to be protected if the city council acts promptly or that potentially could be lost forever,\u201d said Jerome Block, a lawyer representing hundreds of abuse accusers suing the city over decades-long allegations in its juvenile jails.<\/p>\n

The Mayor\u2019s Office of Management and Budget projects the financial impact of the bill could be up to $1 billion.<\/p>\n

Melvin alleges that he was abused for years beginning at the age of 14 at Spofford Juvenile Detention Center in The Bronx.<\/p>\n

But Block said. \u201cOur leaders have to understand that delay is damage\u2019\u2019 to the survivors seeking justice.
Advocates and other sources told The Post that the speaker\u2019s office has iced them out for weeks, either by not responding or giving shifting explanations for why the bill has has not been brought for a vote.<\/p>\n

Khalid Melvin, one of the hundreds of people trying to sue the city for alleged abuse in juvenile jails, said the stymying of the bill was disheartening.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not fair,\u201d said Melvin, 47, who has alleged that he was repeatedly abused for years starting at the age of 14 when he was at Spofford Juvenile Detention Center in The Bronx.<\/p>\n

A representative for Adams said the notion that the speaker is acting based on petty politics is ridiculous.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe person making these irresponsible claims lacks credibility, as he was an enthusiastic political promoter of a serial sexual harasser becoming mayor,\u201d the representative said, referring to Campoamor, who worked for ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, now a mayoral candidate. <\/p>\n

Cuomo has denied the slew of sex allegations against him.<\/p>\n

Brooks-Powers did not respond to Post request for comment.<\/p>\n

A City Council rep added, \u201cSince being introduced in May, [the bill] has continued to move through the legislative process.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt received a hearing within committee earlier this month, the routine next step that allows for a bill to be reviewed and the subject of public testimony earlier before it can advance further. Now, it has advanced to the critical step of negotiation with the mayoral administration and stakeholders that precedes consideration for passage. <\/p>\n

\u201cSurvivors of gender-based violence deserve accountability, and this bill has been proceeding through the steps that apply to all legislation advancing. It\u2019s unfortunate that anyone would mischaracterize the legislative process and distort the public\u2019s understanding by making false political claims that have no bearing. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Council understands the significance of this bill for survivors and continues its work to advance it through the well-established legislative process.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sex-abuse survivors and advocates are slamming City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams for blocking a \u201clook-back\u201d bill that would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[446,301,6769,2850,57,9,56,63,65,64,5474,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-17640","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-adrienne-adams","9":"tag-city-council","10":"tag-jeffrey-epstein","11":"tag-lawsuits","12":"tag-metro","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-ny","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-nyc-headlines","17":"tag-nyc-news","18":"tag-sexual-abuse","19":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}