Former New York City COVID czar Dr. Jay Varma has admitted to taking part in "private gatherings" at the height of the pandemic but is claiming that his comments caught on hidden camera about going to sex parties and a dance party under a Wall Street bank were "spliced, diced and taken out of context."
Conservative podcaster Steven Crowder on Thursday posted a highly edited video of Varma, the city's senior public health adviser under former Mayor Bill de Blasio from April 2020 to May 2021, talking about his exploits, The New York Times reported Thursday.
At various points in the video, Varma talks about a sex party he and his wife held at a hotel, and the dance party, where more than 200 people attended, despite the official advice from his health department on social distancing.
The video appears to have been put together from several recordings, and Varma admitted Thursday he had been at the gatherings.
"I take responsibility for not using the best judgment at the time," Varma said in a statement to local talk radio station 1010 WINS.
He further claimed he has been targeted by an operative for an extremist right-wing organization determined to malign public health officials and take down the public health system in America.
Chris Vlasto, a spokesman for Varma, refused to elaborate on the nature of the doctor's actions. But in the video, Varma acknowledges that it was hypocritical for him to participate in sex parties while pushing New Yorkers to remain isolated.
"I had to be kind of sneaky about it," he told a woman at one point in the video. "I was running the entire COVID response for the city."
Varma said in the video that he rented a hotel room with his wife, and that they invited eight to 10 people. He described the sex party as "just being naked with friends." At the time, in August 2020, indoor gatherings of up to 10 people were being allowed in New York.
Vlasto said Varma was at the Wall Street dance party in June 2021, just after officially leaving his position as a senior adviser but remaining a part-time consultant. He also confirmed Varma attended another sex party in November 2020.
City Council GOP minority leader Joseph Borelli, who represents Staten Island, told the Times that the revelations undercut the measures Varma was advocating.
"I recall being treated like a pariah for pointing out the obvious at the time – that so many of our so-called leaders were just making up illogical rules as they went along," he said. "Still, even I couldn’t have predicted how full of it they actually were."
Democrat City Councilman Robert Holden, who represents a Queens district, called on Mayor Eric Adams to investigate Varma's actions. He also said the city should drop its appeals case against workers who filed lawsuits after they were fired when they did not comply with the pandemic mandates.
"This was the public health expert for the city while it was shut down," Holden told the Times. "He was busy having sex parties. It’s alarming, especially with so many first responders, city workers, and everyday New Yorkers losing their jobs."