NYC mayoral candidate hit with second allegation of sexual misconduct

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer on Friday was hit with a second allegation of sexual misconduct, threatening to further roil his mayoral bid.

Teresa Logan, a former waitress and bartender at a Manhattan bar that was co-founded and run in part by Stringer, told The New York Times that the mayoral candidate once groped her while she was carrying trays and made unwanted sexual advances toward her outside of the bar.

Logan recounted that she was “freaked out” by Stringer grabbing her behind and that he later “made out” with her in a taxi. She said he laughed off the second incident, saying “Oh, I’m drunk, I’m sorry.”

In a third instance, Logan said Stringer kissed and groped her and tried to take her to his apartment.

“It was almost like this out-of-body experience, where I’m like, ‘What do I do, like this is my boss,’” she said. “Meanwhile he’s like, his hand going up my skirt and my chest.”

Logan’s sister, who was her roommate at the time, and an unidentified friend said that Logan had told them about the instances after they happened.

Stringer’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill, but Stringer told The Times he had “no memory” of Logan.

“If, in fact, I met Ms. Logan, and ever did anything to make her uncomfortable, I am sorry,” he said.

“Uptown Local was a long-ago chapter in my life from the early 1990s and it was all a bit of a mess,” he added, referencing the name of the bar. 

Logan’s allegations come after similar claims were leveled against Stringer by Jean Kim, who worked on Stringer’s 2001 campaign for public advocate. Stringer has denied Kim’s allegations.

Logan said she had been thinking about going public with her claims for at least a year, but was inspired to finally do so after Kim publicly accused Stringer. 

“It was like this trigger,” she told The Times. “There’s like a visceral feeling hearing her on the news, and him, and hearing her and knowing she was right. I was like, I know I have to do this.”

Logan’s allegations come less than three weeks before the mayoral primary, in which Stringer is facing off against a slew of Democrats, including Andrew Yang and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

Stringer was first hit with controversy in April after Kim’s allegations went public, leading him to lose endorsements from several groups like Food & Water Action, an environmental group; UFCW Local 1500, a union representing about 20,000 grocery workers in New York; and the Working Families Party.

Stringer at the time adamantly refused to drop out of the race despite the scandal.