Timothy Pearson, a top adviser of Mayor Eric Adams, is officially under investigation following a physical altercation at a migrant shelter in midtown Manhattan between him and two shelter security guards.
The New York Times reports that Pearson, a retired police inspector, is the subject of an inquiry by the city’s Department of Investigation, the government’s independent watchdog agency, though the investigation is still in the beginning stages.
According to The City, which first reported the altercation, Pearson entered the shelter located in a former Touro University building on the afternoon of October 17 when he was asked by a guard to identify himself, which is normal protocol for the facility. Witness statements say that Pearson refused to provide identification and began to get forceful with the staff. A report filed by the site’s operations manager, acquired by The City, recalls an interaction with a female guard.
“The first thing I saw was a man in a ¾ zip windbreaker with writing on the front chest pushing forward and yelling at the Arrow Security Tour Commander. He yelled, ‘Who are you?’ and she replied ‘I work here.’ He said ‘Not after today you won’t,’” the manager wrote.
Sarah Paul, a shelter worker, told the Times that Pearson then got physical with the woman, recalling in a witness statement, “He then proceeded to push the security guard so hard that she tumbled into the receptionist table.”
Other reports from eyewitnesses described Pearson as “pushing, putting hands on, or punching the female security guard, leading the rest of the guards to swarm around Pearson and force him outside,” per The City. The unidentified female guard involved in the altercation was later arrested along with a second guard identified by the Times as Terrence Rosenthal. But on Friday, a judge dismissed the charges against Rosenthal after prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office said they didn’t find the allegations against him credible. Early reports about the altercation initially suggested that it was a shelter security guard who sparked the argument.
During a media availability Tuesday, Adams said the incident was being addressed, adding that he has known Pearson for more than 30 years and never witnessed him being violent.
“That’s under review to see exactly what happened and to see if there’s some other procedures we need to do,” he said.
The mayor said that he regularly has migrant shelters inspected unannounced in order to identify problems and to ensure that things are operating as they should, and that Pearson’s role is “to go into any and all of these sites” and report back to him directly with his findings.
But Adams suggested that Pearson’s actions could be explained by the stress of the ongoing migrant crisis that the city has contended with for over a year.
“This is what happens when you are dealing with a crisis of this magnitude,” he said.
Pearson and Adams have known each other for decades, dating back to their time working for the NYPD. Pearson, who is reported to earn a $242,600 yearly salary, has worn a number of different hats during his time with the administration. Though he is currently working as part of City Hall’s asylum-seeker response, he is officially listed as a senior adviser for public safety and COVID recovery, per Politico. Pearson was previously at the center of another controversy when it was discovered that he was hired by Adams while he was still collecting a salary from his job overseeing security for the casino Resorts World New York City. Pearson would later leave his role at the casino despite the administration saying there were no conflicts.
