Accused sex abuse NYC pol Juan Ardila a ‘deadbeat’ who allegedly owes $19K in rent
Assemblyman Juan Ardila — who faced accusations of sex abuse — hasn’t yet paid $19,200 in arrears for a two-bedroom Maspeth apartment he used to rent, a Queens landlord claims.
In an interview with The Post, his former landlord, Anne O’Reilly, said she’s not afraid to take Ardila to court over the issue.
“I feel like it’s an injustice to me,” she said.
But Ardila scored a temporary legal victory last month when a Queens judge dismissed a case filed by O’Reilly in June when Ardila only owed $11,200.
He moved out in November.
The judge ruled Ardila, who was sued alongside unnamed roommates, was served outside the required 10-17 days before a court date, a technicality that won’t prevent O’Reilly from refiling the suit in the future.
She told The Post she aims to do just that to get Ardila to pay the year of outstanding rent.
“I’m a nurse and try to take care of people and I think people should respect everybody and if I’m working hard I expect everyone else to work hard — if they’re working — to pay their rent,” she said.
Ardila tried to turn the tables on his former landlord in a statement to The Post where he claimed he and his mother had been harassed by her.
“My mother and I moved to this apartment when I was 14. I was staying with my girlfriend but my mother has endured relentless harassment from her landlord, particularly throughout the pandemic & even left her without heat during some of the coldest days,” he said in a statement that included a link to a past 311 heating complaint.
“Experiences like these only reinforce my unwavering commitment to advocating for tenants’ rights and protections in Albany,” he added.
But Ardila, who technically was not on the lease signed by his mother when he was a child, did not say whether he still owed rent to O’Reilly until several hours after The Post reported about the dismissed suit.
“I do not owe rent,” he said.
The legal win for the rent-skipping legislator came one month after two women accused Ardila of forcibly touching them at a 2015 party while they were intoxicated.
Ardila does not deny the allegations
“He is someone I consider predatory on a pathological level,” one of the women told The Post in March.
The other woman has alleged Ardila, who was first elected to the Assembly in 2022, exposed himself and kissed her without consent at the party.
“It is intolerable and unacceptable what he did,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in mid-March while adding her name to the list of elected officials calling on Ardila to resign.
“I support the survivors and their call for accountability and yes, he should resign,” Hochul added.
Ardila no longer denies the charges after releasing a statement that distanced himself from the allegations.
He has repeatedly insisted he will address them publicly at some point, while dodging reporters and fellow elected officials in recent weeks.
“We’re just talking about how a personal issue that took place in my life years ago,” Ardila carped while enduring a barrage of criticism from fellow Democrats at a recent meeting of a Queens community board.
“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.
The freshman legislator apologized during the 2022 campaign for past social media posts loaded with racist and homophobic language.
Ardila has also faced heat for multiple speed camera violations in school zones alongside other traffic violations.
Revelations now that he has refused to pay the rent are providing fresh fodder for critics calling on him to resign.
“Not only is Juan Ardila an accused sexual predator, racist, homophobe, and reckless driver, but now we learn he’s a deadbeat who doesn’t pay his rent,” said City Councilman Robert Holden (D-Maspeth).
“Juan Ardila should not hold any political office and should resign immediately.”
