ALBANY – Assemblyman Juan Ardila (D-Queens) ditched a pro-bail reform rally at the Capitol Monday before refusing to answer questions from The Post about sexual misconduct allegations made against him by two women.
The freshman legislator has avoided the press in recent weeks without explicitly saying whether he forcibly touched two women without their consent while they were intoxicated at a 2015 party.
One of the women says Ardila exposed himself and forcibly kissed her as well.
“I put my statement out and am focusing on doing the work,” the lawmaker said during a one-sided four-minute interview in which The Post pressed him to clarify his contradictory statements about whether he did what he is accused of.
Fellow Democrats have mostly shunned Ardila, 29, ever since the Queens Chronicle revealed the accusations against him on March 13, weeks after he took office.
“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 the aforementioned statement without outlining any concrete actions he would take.
A growing list of Queens pols as well as Gov. Hochul have called on Ardila to step down — though notably not Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), who did not provide comment Monday.
Two influential Queens pols – Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz and state Sen. Jessica Ramos – have stopped short of saying Ardila should resign by calling for probes into his alleged conduct.
Assemblyman Pat Burke (D-Buffalo) last week became the second member of the Democratic supermajority accused this year of sexual misconduct though few if any colleagues have called on him to resign as of Monday afternoon.
“It seems to be endemic to Albany and it’s uncomfortable and pretty disgusting,” a Democratic Assembly member told The Post about the Burke accusations.
Heastie has previously said that Ardila’s political future is up to his constituents – and they say the freshman legislator has been missing in action.
“A lot of people in the community have said to me, ‘This is really not okay,’” Queens Community Board 2 Chair Danielle Brecker, who has called on Ardila to resign, told the Queens Eagle on Friday.
“The first step of restorative justice is to listen to your survivor, and if you’re an elected official, the second step of restorative justice is to listen to your community and to try to restore that trust, and if the community is saying we need you to step down, he should be listening to that,” she added.
A probe handled by an independent investigator hired by Ardila supposedly exonerated him without bothering to speak to at least one of the women, the Queens Chronicle reported on March 31.
That woman spoke last month with the NYPD’s special victims unit working with the Manhattan DA’s office.
Instead of indulging reporters’ questions, Ardila held his phone to his ear after stepping away from the Capitol rally, where he appeared keen to speak out against proposed changes to cash bail laws.
Ardila was not invited to the event organized by activists and featuring members of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus.
They oppose the bail deal Hochul is pushing in state budget negotiations that have already missed an April 1 deadline.
But Ardila stepped away from the rally once an organizer approached him for a private conversation.
That ended with Ardila briefly going back to stand by his colleagues before abruptly leaving with his phone pressed to his ear.
The ruse only got him so far, as a Post reporter confronted him outside an elevator.
Ardila repeatedly asserted that he remains an effective legislator, despite being the only freshman Democrat in the lower chamber who did not get an assignment to a legislative budget committee.
That could endanger funding for his district, which stretches across Long Island City, Sunnyside, Maspeth, and Ridgewood.
“I’m just focusing on the work,” he repeated.
“How can you be focused on the work when the governor and a huge number of your colleagues have called on you to resign? And you haven’t spoken publicly about it?” The Post pressed.
“I’m just focused on the work,” Ardila added one last time before exiting the Capitol without elaborating.
“That’s one way to commemorate Sexual Assault Awareness Month,” Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D-Queens), who has called for Ardila to resign, said in response to his comments Monday.
City Councilman Bob Holden was also unimpressed, telling The Post: “Rather than resigning, Juan Ardila stands with his colleagues who want nothing to do with him, stumping for bail reform and other pro-criminal measures that make his constituents unsafe.”