Fellow Albany Dems snub alleged sex abuser Juan Ardila at Capitol photo session
ALBANY – Some state lawmakers are so sick of accused sex abuser Juan Ardila that they banished him from a group photo session on Tuesday.
The snub went down after the embattled assemblyman, who two women have accused of sexual misconduct, arrived in the Legislative Office Building near the Capitol to participate in an official photo of the 48-member Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force.
But participants quickly made Ardila stand off to the side after Assemblywoman Marcela Mitaynes (D-Brooklyn) reportedly raised objections to taking photos with him and treating him as a normal member of the legislative rank-and-file.
“He’s making it uncomfortable for everyone to have to figure out how to navigate around this,” one task force member told The Post.
“Being in a picture means you’re validating his really bad behavior at this point. And his lack of accountability is making everything uncomfortable for everyone.”
Ardila has refused to resign or even speak publicly on the allegations while fighting for his political life since they became public two months ago in the Queens Chronicle – only to face cold shoulders and disdain from colleagues and constituents alike.
Both women say he touched them against their will while they were intoxicated at a 2015 party, with one of the women adding he forcibly kissed her and exposed himself.
“He is someone I consider predatory on a pathological level,” one of the women told The Post in March.
Political watchers whisper that Ardila would not be in so much political trouble if he had only given a straightforward statement after the women came forward.
Ardila at first denied the charges before effectively admitting them in a series of oblique statements that have enraged fellow Democrats ever since.
Fellow elected officials and members of Queens Community Board 2 slammed his handling of the accusations after he popped up at a virtual meeting earlier this month.
“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.”
He also got guff for posting photos on social media from a recent community garden event touting his presence as an elected official despite the lack of an invitation, according to the Astoria Post.
“I put my statement out and am focusing on doing the work,” the lawmaker told The Post during a four-minute, one-sided interview in a Capitol elevator after he dashed away from a pro-bail reform rally in the Capitol after reporters spotted him.
His inability to even get a snapshot alongside some colleagues suggests he is hardly bringing home the bacon for his constituents.
He has not gained a single co-sponsor for any of the legislation he has sponsored since March.
And he was sidelined during budget negotiations as well, colleagues say.
“I think there are a number of members who do not want to share space with him…I mean that in the very literal sense – if he’s on the floor, I know that there are people who don’t want to be on the floor,” one Assembly member recently told the Queens Eagle. “His presence in a room has an impact on whether or not people want to be in that same room.”
And alleged sexual misconduct is only one part of the political embarrassments Ardila continues to endure despite calls for his resignation from Gov. Kathy Hochul and a long list of Queens Democrats.
Ardila apologized while running for the City Council in 2021 after The Post reported about past social media posts steeped in homophobic and racist language that undermines the progressive talking points he now espouses.
He has accumulated multiple speed camera violations in school zones alongside other traffic violations in past years.
And just last week, The Post reported a former landlord has accused him of owing $19,200 in outstanding rent.
Ardila did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday about the humiliation he suffered from fellow task force members.
“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.”
