The tangled romantic history of NYC mayoral hopeful Scott Stringer

More On:

scott stringer

Eric Adams secures big endorsement in NYC mayor race

Upper East Dem club abandons Stringer, backs Garcia for mayor

Teacher unions’ outrageous, cynical drive to dodge the blame for keeping schools closed

Yang plummets, Adams leads in new Democratic mayoral poll

Mayoral candidate Scott Stringer has insisted his relationship with a campaign “intern” was consensual, and happened before he was married, but he left out an important detail – he had a girlfriend at the time.

Stringer, 61, the current city Comptroller, was in a romantic relationship with Jeanne Salvatore while he was allegedly harassing former campaign worker Jean Kim, sources told The Post.

Salvatore, then a spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute, and Stringer, a state Assemblyman vying to be public advocate, shared the same one-bedroom apartment at 326 Columbus Ave. in 2001, public records show.

This is the same time period during which Kim, 49, said Stringer made unwanted advances, including groping her in a taxi and asking repeatedly “Why won’t you f–k me?” He promised to help her become the first Asian-American district leader, Kim said.

“He never had my consent to any physical contact at all, nor did he even seek my consent,” said Kim in a statement to The Post. “He took for granted that he could do what he wanted and disregarded my humanity.  You can call yourself an advocate for women and under-represented communities, but if you take advantage of women who are younger, inexperienced and without the privileges you enjoy, you are not fooling anyone that you are a person of integrity, much less a leader.”

Stringer claims he and Kim had an “on-and-off relationship over a few months” and that he believed “it was a mutual, consensual relationship.” He said she was not an intern, but a campaign volunteer, and insisted he never used foul language as Kim alleged.

“I don’t talk that way. That’s not the language I use and I didn’t use that language ever,” he insisted.

But Stringer raised the possibility that other women may come forward saying “You know, I’ve dated.”

“I don’t expect it. But, look, I didn’t expect this set of allegations,” he told “Good Day New York” in April. Stringer also once dated Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal.

Stringer did seemingly repeat a pattern of mentoring younger women interested in entering Democratic politics and using the same foul language.

Stringer met lawyer LeAnn Leutner in the early 2000s before he was elected Manhattan Borough President, promising to make her a district leader as they began a romantic relationship, sources said. Leutner also went on to work as his campaign treasurer.

“They had a long term relationship,” said Ezra Glaser, a Brooklyn lawyer and former political consultant, who knew both Stringer and Leutner. “He mentored LeAnn. But he could also be a bully, a would-be dictator.”

Glaser recalled the first time he met Leutner at an Upper East Side bar in 2005 during Stringer’s campaign for borough president. Stringer walked into the watering hole and approached them.

“You’re to leave and you’re not f–king LeAnn,” Stringer demanded in front of Leutner.

Stringer dumped Leutner before his marriage to Elyse Buxbaum in 2010 because “she was not a good look for politics,” a friend of Leutner’s told The Post.

“LeAnn was very hurt when the whole thing happened,” the friend said. “He basically told her that he had to get married to look good for politics. He was just using her.”

Leutner, who went on to have another relationship with a doctor, committed suicide on New Year’s Day, 2013. Stringer spoke at her memorial service, but did not acknowledge the romantic relationship.

Stringer continued to guide young women who wanted to break into Democratic politics.

He mentored Yuh-Line Niou, who had been chief of staff for Assemblyman Ron Kim of Queens and was running for office for the first time in 2016 to replace disgraced Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Stringer gave his backing to Niou over Alice Cancel, a staffer in his own office.

Niou lost to Cancel in a special election in April 2016, but went on to win the seat that November. She continues to represent the Lower East Side.

Niou and Stringer had an apparently close relationship, with Niou tweeting in March, “I love your mom … we miss her,” after Stringer tweeted about his mother, who died of COVID-19 last year. It is unclear if the relationship was romantic.

Niou ardently supported Stringer for mayor, but withdrew that endorsement after the allegations against the comptroller emerged.

Niou did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Salvatore, a media consultant and adjunct professor of communications at City College, when reached by The Post said, “I just cannot talk.”

A spokesman for Stringer refused to comment.

Share this article:

Source: Read Full Article