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Public Advocate Letitia James (second from right) was blasted for parading around with Dasani Coates (third from right) at Wednesday's inauguration, and for trying to take credit for a New York Times story on the girl's plight.Photo: Brian Zak
She lied on her first day on the job — and got caught.
Just hours after being sworn in as the city’s public advocate, Letitia James went on TV to claim that she played a key role in helping expose “the face of poverty in the City of New York” on the ‘front page of The New York Times.
James, a former City Council member, said she had appointed a task force to examine conditions at the Auburn homeless shelter in her old Brooklyn district.
When those conditions didn’t improve, James said, she acted to publicize the plight of Dasani Coates, a 12-year-old homeless girl subsequently spotlighted in a lengthy Times series.
“I was aware of it and had a little bit something to do with it,” James insisted on NY1 Wednesday night, speaking of the Times exposé.
“And, in fact, I had established a task force on Auburn, and the conditions continued. And so we decided to work together to basically put on the front page of The New York Times the face of poverty in the City of New York.”
It wasn’t James’ first attempt to portray herself as a champion of the homeless — at the inauguration, she invited young Dasani to stand at her side for the swearing-in.
But the Times refuted James’ account, saying she had nothing to do with its articles.
“Andrea Elliott [the Times reporter] met Dasani in the course of interviewing residents outside the Auburn shelter, and exposed conditions there by following the family. Andrea never talked to Ms. James, nor was she source for the story,” Times assistant managing editor Matt Purdy said in a statement.
After being called out for her lie, James quickly backtracked and changed her story.
“I commend the New York Times for highlighting this important issue on their front page but, to be clear, I was not a source behind The New York Times’ feature on Dasani and did not intend to imply so,” James said in a statement.
James, 51, said she was “proud to be a leader in calling out the challenges of homelessness in general and the Auburn facility in particular,” and maintained that she had “participated in multiple demonstrations outside the facility, along with housing and community advocates.”
James’ embarrassing about-face immediately made her the butt of jokes on Twitter, with salvos exchanged under the hashtag “#ThingsTishTakesCreditFor.”
Among the entries: Cronuts, FDR’s Bible going missing after Mayor de Blasio’s swearing-in, breaking the Watergate story, the p.r. strategy for Beyoncé’s new album, and the wheel.
One veteran political operative who has known James for years wasn’t surprised at her trying to take credit for something she didn’t do.
“She has a habit of overindulgence and taking things a step too far when she speaks,” that source said.
“I think she felt a sense of guilt — the fact that she had been in office and this was in her district.
“She was overcompensating.”
Several people in politics said they thought James went too far in trotting the homeless girl around as a prop at the inauguration.
“No one thought it was appropriate,” said one political source
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