A Rochester dentist has filed a defamation lawsuit against a local legislator and an attorney who accused him and his wife of hosting a racist Juneteenth party — which was attended by a black firefighter allegedly at the behest of his superior.

Nicholas Nicosia claims in the suit filed Tuesday that Nathan McMurray, an attorney who represents firefighter Jerrod Jones, and Monroe County Legislator Rachel Barnhart destroyed his dentistry practice and ruined his family’s life over what his legal team called a “hate crime hoax.”

Nicosia said the allegations even led to someone suggesting he should kill himself in an anonymous letter to his office, the lawsuit states.

The small party thrown last July by Nicosia and his wife was thrust into the limelight when Jones accused his captain of taking him and a few other on-duty firefighters to the gathering that featured racist elements, according to a lawsuit brought by the 14-year department vet against the fire department.

Jones said he saw a display of Juneteenth flags that were over buckets of fried chicken in a bid to mock the holiday.

A woman also allegedly pretended to be Barnhart and performed a sexually suggestive dance while photos of Democratic politicians were attached to stakes in the yard.

But Nicosia, in legal papers, denied the accusations, saying two buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken were served along with other food and were never under Juneteenth flags.

There was no attempt to ridicule black Americans, make fun of the holiday or sexualize Barnhart, and the signs with the pols’ photos could also not be mistaken for stakes, Nicosia’s lawsuit states.

Nicosia, a registered Democrat, was surprised when Jones’ fire captain, Jeffrey Krywy, brought a small group of firefighters to the party that was organized by his conservative-leaning wife.

While at the social event, Jones never seemed uncomfortable during the 40 minutes the group stayed, the lawsuit states.

Krywy retired shortly after the controversial party came to light.

“I’m speaking out now because I can no longer remain silent on this devastating smear campaign against me by an opportunistic lawyer and elected official,” Nicosia said in a statement to The Post through his lawyer.

“I’m also taking this stand so that hopefully no one else will have to endure the hell I have gone through,” he said.  

Jones is not listed as a defendant in the suit, but McMurray is because he “immediately embarked upon a public smear campaign of false statements far beyond his client’s petition,” Nicosia’s legal team said.

McMurray even publicly identified Nicosia and his business by name, leading to an “avalanche of hate mail and harassment,” the lawsuit claims.

Meanwhile Barnhart, in an August 12, 2022 tweet, posted “it is really easy to cancel the Nicosias,” according to the suit.

The legislator is accused of wrongly claiming at the time that the party “reduc[ed] me to a sexual object … that was deliberate,” the lawsuit states.

“Barnhart (who did not attend the party) was mocked at the party for her political viewpoints,” according to the lawsuit. “But she was not mocked as a ‘sexual object.’”

Nicosia claims in the suit, which was first reported by The Daily Mail, that he lost 36% of his business in August 2022, several employees and has yet to recover.

“In the face of the bad-faith and malicious campaign of defamation targeted at my client and his business, he tried to wait and hope it went away,” Nicosia’s lawyer Mike Allen told The Post. “He hoped that the truth would take precedence over the lies spread about him. It never did.”

Nicosia’s wife, Mary Nicosia, held a press conference last year denying the party was racist, though she admitted to sending out past racist tweets.

Barnhart, in a text to The Post, declined comment on the lawsuit against her.

McMurray told the Daily Mail his first reaction was to laugh at the suit “if this wasn’t so painfully desperate on their part.”

“They’re going to have to prove all this in a court of law,” he also said. “They’ve brought themselves into the eye of the storm and we’re happy to have them there for the purpose of my client.”