Photo: Instagram/@jasmineray_nyc
It’s been quite an eventful week for Eric Adams.
On Sunday, the incumbent mayor dropped his beleaguered reelection campaign after months of speculation that he was eyeing the exit (and possibly a new job with the Trump administration). Now, a former City Hall staffer is set to release a self-published, tell-all book on what she says was a romantic relationship with Adams.
Jasmine Ray, the former director of the Mayor’s Office of Sports, Wellness, and Recreation, announced the Saturday release of her book, Political Humanity, which her website describes as a “memoir of love, legacy & New York City politics.” The book’s cover features an image of a woman’s hands holding a man’s bald head — an apparent allusion to Adams, though his face cannot be seen — with another image of the city skyline superimposed across his back. Ray reportedly resigned from her role on Friday, just days before Adams announced his intention to drop his reelection bid.
“From the shadows of City Hall to the silence of closed-door meetings, Jasmine Ray reveals her untold role in the life of New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams. Their hidden relationship — marked by intimacy, sacrifice, and betrayal — mirrors the larger struggles of politics itself: the tension between personal humanity and public expectation,” the description reads.
Kayla Mamelak, a spokesperson for the mayor, confirmed to the Daily News that Adams and Ray once dated about a decade ago but said the relationship was professional during their time working in city government together. Adams isn’t married but has been in a long relationship with Tracey Collins, who previously worked for the city’s Department of Education. The two attended the Met Gala together in 2022 and own an apartment in Fort Lee, New Jersey, which became the focus of debates about where the mayor actually lives.
Ray promoted the book with a bizarre AI-generated video she posted to Instagram. The clip portrays Adams and Ray’s relationship as if it were scenes from a movie, showing deep-fake versions of the two meeting, dancing, and even lying together in bed. The clip is oddly soundtracked with a theme song featuring a singer backed by a choir occasionally bursting in with lines like “Love and power and truth comes through!” and “Standing tall while the walls fall!”
The clip also depicts Adams’s legal issues, showing a simulated news report of his indictment and suggesting Ray supported Adams as he contended with it. “She stayed silent while the world judged him,” the voice-over says.
Ray was appointed to lead the newly created Mayor’s Office of Sports, Wellness, and Recreation in December 2022. During her tenure, she occasionally came under scrutiny. Last year, NBC New York reported she had received a conflict-of-interest waiver in 2022 to continue providing consulting work for Cornerstone Day Care, where she had previously served as executive director. The outlet noted the Brooklyn day-care center had received a $4.7 million contract to provide pre-K services to city children the prior year when Ray led the business.
Earlier this year, Gothamist reported that Ray expressed support on social media for the Trump administration’s executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports in clear conflict with the city’s policy on the issue. She later deleted the post.
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