Ardila hires prominent attorney amid alleged probe into sexual assault allegations

Assemblymember Juan Ardila (center) has allegedly hired an attorney amid a reported probe by the Manhattan district attorney’s office into 2015 sexual assault allegations. Photo via Ardila/Twitter

By Jacob Kaye

Assemblymember Juan Ardila, who was accused in March of sexually assaulting two women at a 2015 party, has allegedly hired a prominent attorney to represent him in regards to the allegations, sources told the Eagle.

Ardila, the freshman Democrat who has ignored numerous calls to resign following the allegations, has allegedly hired attorney Stuart Slotnick in recent weeks. Slotnick’s involvement was revealed during a Queens Community Board 2 meeting on Thursday night, after Ardila, who was in attendance, was pushed to answer questions about the allegations by several of his fellow elected officials and members of the board.

It’s unclear whether or not Slotnick’s work is related to an independent investigation into the allegations commissioned by Ardila. The existence of the investigation was first reported by the Queens Chronicle. It’s also unclear whether or not his involvement is related to a probe into the incident reportedly being conducted by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

Two women, both of whom requested anonymity, said that the then-staffer for then-City Councilmember Brad Lander allegedly touched one of the women inappropriately and exposed himself to the other during a 2015 party attended primarily by students from Fordham University, from which Ardila had recently graduated.

One of the accusers confirmed to the Eagle on Friday that Slotnick had reached out to her, her father and others who may have knowledge of the alleged assault. The attorney has allegedly revealed the name of the accuser, who the Eagle has chosen to keep anonymous, to several of the people he has contacted.

City Councilmember Julie Won, who was at the meeting and revealed Slotnick’s involvement, described the attorney’s work as “harassment.”

“What you are doing to these women is not okay – for you to intimidate them, harass them and silence them via your lawyer,” Won said. “This is not okay.”

After being contacted by Slotnick, one of the accusers reached out to Won’s office in an effort to be connected with legal counsel, the accuser told the Eagle.

Slotnick, whose father, attorney Barry Slotnick, formerly represented organized crime bosses and negotiated Melania Trump’s prenup, did not respond to requests for comment on Friday. Ardila did not respond to requests for comment made to his personal cell phone. His office did not respond to request for comment before print time.

Ardila was at the community board meeting on Thursday when Won accused him of hiring the attorney to intimidate his accusers. He offered no comment on Slotnick’s involvement and said little else about the allegations or the calls for his resignation.

Several members of Community Board 2, State Senator Kristen Gonzalez and Won, who both share constituents with Ardila, demanded answers from Ardila about the alleged sexual assaults, his pariah status in Albany and his plans to continue serving as a lawmaker during the nearly hour-long back-and-forth in which Ardila skirted around their inquires.

Later in the meeting, board members launched into a two-hour debate over whether or not they, as a community board, have the ability to formally call on the assemblymember to resign.

Ardila’s appearance at the meeting comes a month after he sent a young staffer to represent him at the board’s April meeting. At that meeting, Chairperson Danielle Brecker reiterated her call for Ardila to resign, and expressed disappointment that the embattled lawmaker hadn’t shown up to answer to the board’s pressing questions himself.

Ardila, who has not commented publicly on the allegations since issuing three consecutive statements in mid-March, similarly had little to say on Thursday. He called the matter “personal” and said that he’d have more to share in the future, though he refused to say when, despite persistent questioning.

“We're just talking about a personal issue that took place in my life years ago,” Ardila said. “We are going to address it to the public, so, you have that commitment. It is going to be in a timely manner. In terms of the timeline, as to why the timeline took place the way that it did, like I said, you’ll have all those answers.”

Brecker told the Eagle on Friday that Ardila’s responses to her questions, as well as those from her fellow board members and his government colleagues, were insufficient.

“I do not feel good about his responses,” Brecker said. “He called the allegations against him a ‘personal matter’ when it is a community one, and essentially said he will answer when he is ready.”

“This demonstrates a total absence of accountability, transparency and understanding that he answers to the people,” she added. “Ardila’s constituents and the larger community should not be dismissed, told to wait, or made to feel as if we are wrong to raise concerns and ask questions.”

Assemblymember Juan Ardila (Top right) speaks to Community board 2 on thursday, May 4, 2023. Screenshot via Queens CB 2

The sexual assault allegations against Ardila were first reported by the Queens Chronicle and the Eagle on March 13. Ardila initially told the Chronicle that he didn’t “even know what this is,” before later issuing a statement in which he apologized for his behavior. He followed that up with a lengthier statement shortly after, in which he again apologized.

But in the nearly two months since the allegations were first brought forward, his fellow lawmakers and a number of his constituents say that he’s been an ineffectual representative for Long Island City, Sunnyside, Maspeth and Ridgewood. His colleagues in Albany say he was iced out of critical budget negotiations by lawmakers who have struggled to move past the allegations in the way Ardila has seemingly hoped they would – nearly all of his Western Queens colleagues, Governor Kathy Hochul and a number of his constituents have called on him to resign. Members of Ardila’s district have said that they’ve felt uncomfortable after he’s shown up to community events. Phone calls to his office often go unanswered and he’s been completely unavailable to the press.

At Thursday’s meeting, Ardila began by sharing a number of updates from Albany, as is customary for elected officials to do at board meetings. Shortly after, board member Nick Berkowitz, who also serves as an elected district leader in Ardila’s district and later recused himself from the board’s debate, began asking about the allegations.

“At our last meeting, our board shared our general feelings about your continuing to remain in office with your representative,” Berkowitz said. “We were disappointed that you didn't choose to join us yourself and that you sent a relatively young staffer – I just wanted to know if you had any comments you’d like to make yourself, I’d love for you to address that.”

Ardila responded with what has become a common refrain for the lawmaker – he pointed to the work he says he’s doing in Albany and within the district.

“In terms of any personal matters, you don't need to ask, we'll be addressing it and you'll hear from me personally,” Ardila said. “But the focus is to ensure that we are providing resources and giving updates on where we are in terms of finances, and not just finances, but also in district services and providing those community services and constituent services.”

But Gonzalez, whose Senate district overlaps with Adrila’s Assembly district, said that much of the work in Albany that Ardila touted and took credit for were bunk.

“You are not receiving the representation that you deserve,” Gonzalez told the board. “These wins or these fights that we've been engaged in have been the result of other organizing efforts, myself included – and so it's important to make that distinction, because I certainly do not feel comfortable with the implication that you, Assemblymember Ardila, were part of those wins or those fights in the way that you have represented it to our constituents.”

Won said that the allegations against Ardila have affected her work, as well.

“I was getting angry text messages from constituents who are incredibly upset about our current situation with Assemblymember Ardila,” the councilmember said. “You are not leaving me any room to not be involved because I'm getting calls because of your actions. You're not going to be able to ignore this and we're not going to forget, so please address the public.”

Several board members pressed Ardila for answers about the sexual assault allegations, as well as answers about accusations that he has been pushed aside and unable to represent them in the state legislature.

“Assemblymember Ardila, Juan, you know that I've been a great supporter in the past and I was really looking forward to your work in the assembly,” said board member Rosamond Gianutsos. “I'd like to just get an answer or commitment as to when you're going to have this response?”

Ardila again said that he would address the allegations in a “timely manner” but did not say when.

“When we do do this, you will understand why it took place in the timeline that it did, okay?” Ardila said. “That's all I'm asking.”

“We've heard the concerns, we've heard where people stand now, at least give me the space to address them, is all I'm saying, and I will be addressing them,” he added. “I'm not going to do this on a community board. This is a community board for civics, I'm pretty sure we've broken about 50 ethical violations on community boards just on this topic alone.”

That question of ethics and the board’s role in potentially calling for his resignation as a body arose again several hours after Ardila finished speaking Thursday.

The board began to debate a resolution calling on Ardila to step down when Maricela Cano, the Queens borough president’s office director of community boards, interrupted.

“I think this is kind of really stepping over the boundaries of what a community board should be doing,” Cano said.

A spokesperson for the borough president’s office told the Eagle on Friday: “The Queens Borough President’s Office serves as technical advisors to our 14 community boards, with a major priority of the office being to ensure our boards are in compliance with city conflicts of interest law.”

“To that end, the office and each board maintains close contact with Conflict of Interest Board to properly address questions as to whether a board is acting within its scope,” the spokesperson added.

Cano suggested that rather than vote on a resolution calling on Ardila to resign, the board instead issue a vote of no confidence.

The board briefly took up the matter before tabling for next month’s meeting, which will be held on June 1.

Additional reporting by Ryan Schwach.