NY Democrat Juan Ardila ripped over sexual misconduct claims: ‘Not OK’
Assemblyman Juan Ardila (D-Queens) ran into a buzzsaw of angry constituents Thursday night while trying to avoid talking about his alleged sexual misconduct at a virtual community board meeting.
The accused abuser attended the Zoom gathering of Queens Community Board 2 to talk up his purported role in getting progressive priorities, like rental assistance, into a new $229 billion state budget — even though many elected officials want nothing to do with him.
Ardila was soon grilled about how he can remain an effective legislator given his nearly two-month-long refusal to publicly comment on accusations by two women that he forcibly touched them at a 2015 party.
“I want to make sure that I make it clear that you have to address what the women are calling [for] and you cannot ignore the calls for resignation from the victims and then not say anything,” City Councilwoman Julie Won said.
“You have to explain why you’re refusing to resign.”
The hour-long rhetorical barrage highlighted Ardila’s status as a political pariah despite his efforts to move past the scandal following resignation calls from fellow Democrats like Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Ardila has hired attorney Stuart Slotnick, who as the Queens Daily Eagle reported Friday, has contacted people close to the women in order to press them on their accounts of Ardila’s behavior.
“What you are doing to these women is not OK — for you to intimidate them, harass them and silence them via your lawyer,” Won told Ardila Thursday night. “This is not OK.”
Ardila, 29, said the allegations were a “personal” issue before repeating a past statement that he would answer outstanding questions sometime soon.
“We’re just talking about how a personal issue that took place in my life years ago,” he said at one point.
“We are going to address it to the public. So you have that commitment. It is going to be in a timely manner,” he added without specifying when.
His efforts to claim relevance in budget negotiations also fell short of calming criticism.
“I know you didn’t have a role within the budget negotiation team this past budget session so what exactly did you do to help get the things that we wanted?” asked Board Chair Danielle Brecker, referencing Ardila being the only freshman Assembly Democrat without a budget conference committee assignment.
The lawmaker claimed to no avail that co-sponsoring bills and communicating with other Democratic legislators was somehow bringing home the bacon for his constituents.
State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez (D-Queens/Brooklyn) said the idea Ardila was effectively advocating for anything in the Capitol was a “misrepresentation of dynamics in Albany.”
And as long as the freshman progressive clings to power, his “lack of relationships” will cost residents of Sunnyside, Long Island City and Ridgewood when it comes to funding for community projects, according to Gonzalez.
“When it comes to the budget and discretionary funds, the governor has most of the power … the governor has called for resignation in this case,” she said.
Ardila, who did not respond to a request for comment Friday, has tried to project normalcy over the past two months by showing up at events both in his district and in Albany, where his presence has quickly landed him in hot water.
A local community garden leader demanded the Assembly member take down a social media post from an Earth Day shindig in Long Island City after he appeared uninvited, the Astoria Post reported last month.
That came two weeks after Ardila ditched a Capitol press conference on bail reform when reporters spotted him lining up to talk alongside other progressives.
“I put my statement out and am focusing on doing the work,” the lawmaker said during a four-minute, one-sided interview with The Post shortly afterwards.
Ardila claimed Thursday night that he was not trying to “weasel around” the issue — while insisting his ongoing refusal to any questions was somehow a virtue, despite previously issuing conflicting statements.
“Like I said, I haven’t said anything since March 14. So, anything that’s been discussed or said since then, has not come from me or my circle,” he said with a straight face Thursday.
“Perhaps that’s part of the problem. You haven’t said anything since March 14,” Rosamond Gianutsos, a vice chair of Queens Community Board Two, said.
“This problem has not been addressed in a timely manner,:
