Playboy Playmate took young son on fatal leap from NYC building
By Larry Celona, Khristina Narizhnaya and Tina Moore
May 18, 2018 | 11:15am | Updated
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Playboy Playmate Stephanie Adams leaving court holding her son, Vincent, in 2012.Kendall Rodriguez
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Mother, young son dead after apparently jumping from building
A former Playboy Playmate jumped with her 7-year-old son to their deaths from a Midtown hotel Friday — amid a nasty custody battle with her chiropractic ex, sources told The Post.
Stephanie Adams, 47, leaped with young Vincent from the top floor of the Gotham Hotel around 8:15 a.m., sources said.
The pair checked into the hotel around 6 p.m. Thursday and were staying in a 25th-floor penthouse suite, NYPD Chief of Manhattan Detectives William Aubrey said at a press conference.
Their bodies were found on a second-floor landing in the hotel’s rear courtyard.
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“Early this morning investigators located an individual whose attention was drawn to that same second-floor area when he heard two loud noises,” Aubrey said. “His attention was drawn to that and he discovered these two deceased individuals.”
It’s not clear whether Adams — who was Playboy’s Miss November 1992 — left behind a suicide note.
The deaths come as Adams waged a fierce court battle with her estranged husband, Charles Nicolai, 47, owner of Wall Street Chiropractic & Wellness.
Nicolai’s lawyer recently demanded that she turn over the kid’s passport, sources said.
Their relationship was so toxic that Adams would meet Nicolai — who had visitation rights for Vincent — at the First Precinct in Tribeca for handovers.
“It ensures no violence takes place,” a friend told The Post in March.
Adams successfully sued the NYPD, winning a $1.2 million jury award stemming from a 2006 incident in which she was thrown to the ground by a cop who falsely claimed she pulled a gun on him.
The couple was sued in 2013 in by Dilek Edwards, a former massage therapist in his office, who claimed she was fired after Nicolai admitted his then-wife would get “jealous” because Edwards was “too cute.”
Edwards’ suit was tossed — but it was restored by an appeals court that ruled she could sue for gender discrimination.
That lawsuit is still pending.
Adams came out as Playboy magazine’s first lesbian centerfold in 2003. But she was later married to an investment banker for two years before becoming engaged to Nicolai in 2009.
The former Wilhelmina and Elite model-turned-author was profiled by The Post in 2013. At the time, she had written 25 New Age self-help books, ran an online organic beauty products company and managed the finances for Nicolai’s chiropractic office.
“The stereotypes are sexist and unfair,” Adams said at the time. “Just because I look a certain way and have expensive tastes, it doesn’t mean I’m shallow. Style and looks don’t mean lack of brains, sweetheart!”
Additional reporting by Amanda Woods and Lia Eustachewich
By Larry Celona, Khristina Narizhnaya and Tina Moore
May 18, 2018 | 11:15am | Updated
Modal Trigger
Playboy Playmate Stephanie Adams leaving court holding her son, Vincent, in 2012.Kendall Rodriguez
SEE ALSO
Mother, young son dead after apparently jumping from building
A former Playboy Playmate jumped with her 7-year-old son to their deaths from a Midtown hotel Friday — amid a nasty custody battle with her chiropractic ex, sources told The Post.
Stephanie Adams, 47, leaped with young Vincent from the top floor of the Gotham Hotel around 8:15 a.m., sources said.
The pair checked into the hotel around 6 p.m. Thursday and were staying in a 25th-floor penthouse suite, NYPD Chief of Manhattan Detectives William Aubrey said at a press conference.
Their bodies were found on a second-floor landing in the hotel’s rear courtyard.
–– ADVERTISEMENT ––
“Early this morning investigators located an individual whose attention was drawn to that same second-floor area when he heard two loud noises,” Aubrey said. “His attention was drawn to that and he discovered these two deceased individuals.”
It’s not clear whether Adams — who was Playboy’s Miss November 1992 — left behind a suicide note.
The deaths come as Adams waged a fierce court battle with her estranged husband, Charles Nicolai, 47, owner of Wall Street Chiropractic & Wellness.
Nicolai’s lawyer recently demanded that she turn over the kid’s passport, sources said.
Their relationship was so toxic that Adams would meet Nicolai — who had visitation rights for Vincent — at the First Precinct in Tribeca for handovers.
“It ensures no violence takes place,” a friend told The Post in March.
Adams successfully sued the NYPD, winning a $1.2 million jury award stemming from a 2006 incident in which she was thrown to the ground by a cop who falsely claimed she pulled a gun on him.
The couple was sued in 2013 in by Dilek Edwards, a former massage therapist in his office, who claimed she was fired after Nicolai admitted his then-wife would get “jealous” because Edwards was “too cute.”
Edwards’ suit was tossed — but it was restored by an appeals court that ruled she could sue for gender discrimination.
That lawsuit is still pending.
Adams came out as Playboy magazine’s first lesbian centerfold in 2003. But she was later married to an investment banker for two years before becoming engaged to Nicolai in 2009.
The former Wilhelmina and Elite model-turned-author was profiled by The Post in 2013. At the time, she had written 25 New Age self-help books, ran an online organic beauty products company and managed the finances for Nicolai’s chiropractic office.
“The stereotypes are sexist and unfair,” Adams said at the time. “Just because I look a certain way and have expensive tastes, it doesn’t mean I’m shallow. Style and looks don’t mean lack of brains, sweetheart!”
Additional reporting by Amanda Woods and Lia Eustachewich
