NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that there should be a "fast investigation" into allegations of sexual misconduct made against city comptroller and mayoral candidate Scott Stringer.
"There needs to be an investigation, clearly," de Blasio said at his daily briefing. "It needs to be a fast investigation, because the people of his city deserve to know before they make their decision on the future (in the Democratic mayoral primary) on June 22. So we need the facts, we need an investigation immediately."
The mayor's comments came a day after a woman who once volunteered for Stringer, Jean Kim, accused him of groping her without consent in 2001.
Kim said that when Stringer was a member of the state Assembly, he "relentlessly" pursued a sexual relationship with her.
She said that as they traveled together by taxi to events, "Scott Stringer repeatedly groped me, put his hands on my thighs and between my legs, and demanded to know why I wouldn't have sex with him."
The comptroller denied Kim's accusation, saying: "I didn't do this."
"This isn't me," he said at his own news conference later Wednesday, accompanied by his wife, Elyse Buxbaum. The two married in 2010.
Stringer said he and Kim had a consensual relationship for "a couple of months" during the 2001 campaign, while he was single. While Kim said she was an unpaid intern, Stringer described her as a volunteer.
De Blasio wouldn't say Thursday if he thought Stringer should drop out of the mayoral race ahead of the Democratic primary on June 22.
"I want to see the results of an investigation before offering any other judgement. We've just received this information. It's very important information. It must be taken seriously, but it also must be investigated," de Blasio said.
The mayor was also asked who he thought should lead a potential investigation.
"There's a real question as to what's the appropriate next step; is it the state attorney general, is it the (city) Department of Investigation? Whatever it is, the city of New York will obviously fully engage. But it needs to happen quickly. People need answers, so we stand ready to take whatever next step will get this resolved," de Blasio said.
Stringer is one of more than a dozen Democratic contenders in the mayoral race, in which the large field is trying to overcome the early name recognition of Andrew Yang, the former presidential candidate.
Other candidates include Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Maya Wiley, a former MSNBC analyst and legal counsel to de Blasio, and former Citigroup executive Raymond McGuire.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
