Unwanted Juan

Sunnyside Post 

 Juan Ardila, the Queens assemblymember who has been accused by two women of sexual assault and refused to step down from office, has come under fire for posting photos of himself at a community event without the permission of the attendees and the organizers.

Ardila attended an Earth Day gardening event in Long Island City last week and posted photos of himself with several of the participants at the Smiling Hogshead Ranch on Instagram. According to attendees, he was not invited but showed up.

The assemblymember and his staff circulated among the gardeners and took photos, which were subsequently posted on the lawmaker’s Instagram.

“I had a great time spending #earthday with my team at @smilinghogsheadranch in #LIC,” one post reads, with photos of attendees.

One photo included Frank Wu, a Community Board 2 member and president of the Court Square Civic Association, who was at the event with his young son. Wu requested Ardila to delete the post when he saw it.

“I asked him [to take it down]…because people might assume that I am condoning or approving or supporting him,” Wu said. “There have been some bad things reported, unacceptable things. I didn’t consent to have my photo taken.”

Ardila’s staff did take it down, although it had been up for more than a day.

Ardila, who first took office in January after winning the 37th District assembly seat vacated by the now-retired Catherine Nolan last year, has been accused by two women of sexual assault that allegedly took place at a party in October 2015.

The accusations were made public in March when one of the victims reached out to local media—including the Queens Post—and said that Ardila “got physical” with her – and was “touching her” — while she was drunk on a couch at the party. Another woman at the same party has also accused him of groping her.

Ardila apologized for his behavior in a statement shortly after the accusations were made public.

“I fully take responsibility for my actions…and I am interested in and eager for a restorative justice-centered process, so that we can heal and repair the damage done.”

Restorative justice??? That's what he's banking on?  No wonder all those fauxgressives like that policy.

Why doesn't the Assembly Person try to photobomb the latest Transportation Alternatives and Riders Alliance rallies like he used to? Bet it's because their mega-moneyed donors have ghosted him after they pretty much platformed and elected him.

Garbage barges and abandoned boats in the Rockaways overlooked in city's climate change resiliency plan

 

CBS New York

   Queens residents say they’ve asked the state and city to clean up a graveyard of sunken boats and barges for years.

Now, it’s even preventing a business from opening up.

It’s a disgusting sight that residents in the Arverne section of Far Rockaway are fed up with — rusted barges filled with garbage, slowly sinking year after year.

One is way under with the crane sticking out.

“For 15 years, I’ve seen these cranes in the water, and me and my wife used to joke that they’re probably landmarked,” said Edwin Williams, president of the Heart of Rockaway Civic Association. “There’s a huge East Coast Resiliency Project, but it’s mainly focused on Manhattan. We’re like the forgotten part of New York City.”

Lifelong resident Johann Smiley and his son bought land that sits on the bay on Amstel Boulevard a year ago. They wanted to revitalize the area with a dock and restaurant, but the barges are in the way.

He says it’s been a bunch of finger-pointing and broken promises from different state and city agencies.

“They absolutely don’t care what’s going on here,” Johann Smiley told CBS2’s Lisa Rozner.

He says the barges belong to Anthony Rivara Jr. of Anthony Rivara Contracting, formerly also known as the Pile Foundation, which allegedly owns the neighboring property.

The Smileys say he is a contractor for the Macombs Dam Bridge.

“That garbage that’s on this barge came off of the barges that he took up to the Macombs Dam Bridge,” Smiley said.

Sources confirm they do belong to Anthony Rivara and it’s not the first time he’s had this problem.

Rivara has previously been fined hundreds of thousands of dollars by the state for “unseaworthy barges” in other parts of the city.

He did not return CBS2’s calls.