NYS Senate leader Stewart-Cousins says Queens pol Juan Ardila should resign
ALBANY – State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins says embattled Assemblyman Juan Ardila needs to step down following accusations of sexual assault from two women.
“Yes,” the Westchester Democratic powerbroker – one of the “three people in a room” who call the shots in state politics – said Monday in Albany when asked by the political magazine City & State NY.
The one-word call by the Stewart-Cousins follows a whirlwind week that saw Ardila initially deny the accusations – first reported by the Queens Chronicle on March 13 – before expressing contrition while resisting calls for his resignation.
Ardila, 29, is accused of forcibly touching two intoxicated women at a 2015 party. His second accuser has also said he kissed her against her will while exposing himself.
“He is someone I consider predatory on a pathological level,” the first accuser told The Post last week.
Ardila said last week he would seek “restorative justice” while avoiding tough questions from reporters as he left the Capitol on Thursday.
“I want the public to know that I am deeply apologetic for my past behavior and acknowledge that my actions have caused great harm,” Ardila said in a Tuesday statement where he did not deny the allegations.
“I recognize that this harm was not only to the individuals who came forward, but extends beyond these victims, and impacts survivors everywhere.”
He did not respond to a request for comment Monday about whether he will give up the Assembly seat he won last year.
The sexual assault allegations are the latest controversy in his nascent political career.
Ardila apologized during a 2021 campaign for City Council after The Post revealed years-old social media posts filled with disparaging comments about people like Asians, gays, women and Jews.
A growing list of elected officials, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, have said that Ardila should call it quits following the assault allegations.
His former boss city Comptroller Brad Lander is also calling on Ardila to give up the seat he won in 2022 representing Assembly District 37 that stretches across Long Island City, Maspeth, Sunnyside, Ridgewood in Queens.
But Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) has said the decision is up to the freshman legislator and his constituents, with a Heastie spokesman referring The Post to his previous comments when asked whether his thinking had changed following the comment by Stewart-Cousins.
“The allegations that were made are serious and the behavior that was described was totally unacceptable. But I think that’s a decision that Juan and his constituents have to think about themselves,” Heastie said last week.
Some Queens Democrats have not called for his resignation, including state Sen. Jessica Ramos and Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz.
“Only an independent review can provide the answers to help move towards restorative justice,” Cruz tweeted March 18 without elaborating on who should conduct such a probe.
Other power players in Queens politics, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, state Senate Michael Gianaris and Rep. Grace Meng, though are pushing for Ardila to go.
Assemblywoman Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, a sexual assault survivor, became the latest colleague in the chamber to dump her former political ally over the allegations.
“I am uncertain he can fulfill his obligation to his constituents given the violations he has engaged in and the trust he has lost from the community that supports him,” she tweeted Friday.
