Yonkers Council disciplines two members after secretly recorded verbal attacks
Two Yonkers councilwomen were disciplined last week after one allegedly made threatening remarks about the other — who in turn secretly recorded some of the menacing comments — including audio of her colleague saying she wanted to “smack the taste out” of her mouth.
Yonkers Councilwoman Tasha Diaz was stripped of her title as majority leader during a special meeting Thursday after coming under fire for allegedly repeatedly disparaging fellow Democratic Councilwoman Corazon Pineda-Isaac.
Audio of Diaz’s R-rated rant surfaced after Pineda-Isaac filed a fiery complaint with City Hall claiming Diaz told others she wanted to “slice” Pineda-Isaac’s throat after she unsuccessfully voted to remove Diaz from her post during a reorganization meeting on Jan. 2.
After Diaz was removed as majority leader, Pineda-Isaac was censured by the council for recording a private conversation between Diaz and a staff member in which Diaz made violent and belittling remarks about Pineda-Isaac.
Diaz can be heard in an audio recording reviewed by The Post harshly insulting Pineda-Isaac’s wardrobe before saying she’d “smack the taste out” of the councilwoman’s mouth.
Diaz trashes Pineda-Isaac’s clothing in the recording, describing her attire as a “f–king Old Navy grandma dress” before adding, “$10 dress, go take that s–t back.”
The council voted 6-0 to remove Diaz, who was not in attendance, from her majority leader position before moving to censure Pineda-Isaac, who tearfully said Diaz’s behavior toward her “festered, grew and worsened” over the years.
“There’s no resolution asking her to apologize,” Pineda said tearfully. “This behavior is not new. This behavior was known by anyone who came close to Tasha Diaz.”
“I should apologize?” she asked in disbelief. “Where was the trust to be able to come to work in a place that was not hostile, violent, threatening — where was that trust? Where’s the apology from Tasha Diaz? Where is it? It’s not going to come, but it’s not even being asked.”
Pineda-Isaac’s complaint is now being investigated by the city’s Human Resources department.
In her comments, Pineda-Isaac noted her complaint caused “a chain reaction.”
Just before the special meeting on Thursday, one of Diaz’s former legislative aides submitted a separate complaint to City Hall accusing her ex-boss of bullying and creating a toxic work environment — and calling for her removal.
Jenika Delgado told The Post she was “left in tears” on multiple occasions and said she was forced to work despite being sick with COVID-19.
“She forbade me from telling anyone about my illness and prevented me from taking my legally mandated sick leave,” she wrote in the complaint.
Delgado told The Post that Diaz tried to intimidate and “threaten her motherhood” after Child Protective Services were called when her son had missed some online schooling during COVID. The former aide said she was unable to help her son learn online because she had to go to work in person.
Diaz allegedly pushed off CPS and came to Delgado’s defense but later held the incident over her head, threatening to call CPS back and saying Delgado “needed her,” Delgado claimed.
Delgado told The Post she reached out to HR to file complaints but none of the issues she presented were ever resolved.
A message from The Post to Diaz requesting comment was not returned Sunday.
