Brooklyn, NY – NY Assemblyman Vito Lopez told NY Daily news reporter Glenn Blain he’s not quitting, and as for the allegations from two women that he fondled and otherwise mistreated them, “I believe they are not true and they are unfounded and I disagree with the process.”
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The county Democratic party boss, who’s parlayed that role and his (now gone) chairmanship of the Assembly Housing Committee into a base of power and influence, does have at least one supporter.
“I know Vito really well and they are the most aggregious false charges I could ever imagine in my 60 years of life,” Lopez’s girlfriend, Angela Battaglia, told our Ken Lovett. “I believe it’s a setup.”
I earlier noted that State Committeeman Lincoln Restler, who’s part of a movement to break Lopez’s hold in Brooklyn politics, quickly called on the assemblyman to get out of office.
There’s plenty more where that came from:
Rep. Jerry Nadler: “I applaud the work of both the bi-partisan Assembly Ethics Committee and Speaker Silver for the swift and judicious action in removing Assemblyman Vito Lopez from the Chairmanship of the Assembly Housing Committee and in taking other punitive steps as a result of the findings that Assemblyman Lopez was guilty of multiple acts of sexual harassment and abuse. In light of the reprehensible conduct revealed by the Ethics Committee, I call upon Assembly Lopez to do the only honorable thing by immediately resigning his positions as a Member of the Assembly and as the County Chair of the Brooklyn Democratic Party.”
Manhattan Borough President (and former Assemblyman) Scott Stringer: “I am calling on New York Assemblymember Vito Lopez to resign from office, based on the findings of the Assembly’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Guidance. Any elected official who engages in such blatant sexual harassment and abuse of staff members has no business serving the public. Mr. Lopez has violated any trust that voters placed in him, and he should step down immediately.”
Dick Dadey, Citizens Union: “This was more than just harassment, it’s being a predator. The taxpayers shouldn’t be paying the salary of a sexual predator.”
Common Cause/NY: “Assembly Member Vito Lopez’ shocking and abhorrent sexual misconduct demands a swift and strong penalty. Speaker Silver has acted judiciously by adopting the Standing Committee of Ethics and Guidance’s appropriate sanctions, stripping the powerful assembly member of his committee chairmanship and seniority. We particularly applaud the courage of the two unnamed employees of the State Assembly for coming forward with their complaints against a powerful senior member of the Assembly. It is clear that Assembly Member Lopez should resign not only from the Assembly but also from his chairmanship of the Kings County Democratic Party. It is often the case that those who feel empowered to sexually harass one or two employees fail to stop there. It may well be that this is only the most recent instance of Assembly Member Lopez’ gross misconduct. We call on the Joint Committee for Public Integrity to conduct the necessary broad investigation to assure New Yorkers and other employees of the State Legislature that such conduct will not be tolerated.”
Alex Low, New Kings Democrats: “Yet again, Vito Lopez has embarrassed Brooklyn and the Democratic Party. We have long been used to stories about his corruption, cronyism and nepotism. Today’s news marks a new low. Vito’s time has come. We encourage other leaders to join us in demanding his resignation and calling for fresh leadership.”
NYC Mayoral Candidate Tom Allon: “There should be zero tolerance for sexual harassment in any situation but this is particularly disturbing coming from someone in Mr. Lopez’ position. His status as leader of the Brooklyn Democratic Party is now severely compromised and his position has become untenable. I call on him to resign immediately. This is what happens when one person or one party is in power for too long. It’s time that we break free of the corruption and abuses of the Democratic party machine in New York City. Time for new leadership and a fresh start.”
The sexual harassment charges, Blain and Lovett note, are the latest in a string of troubles for Lopez, who has faced repeated allegations of corruption and cronyism at the non-profit organization he founded, the Ridgewood-Bushwick Senior Citizens Council.
Lopez has also seen some cracks in his ability to influence Brooklyn politics, as in the case of the failure of his favored candidate, Eric Dilan, to defeat incumbent Rep. Nydia Velazquez in the June 26 Democratic primary.
Who is that in the photo above? It looks like Count Dracula!
This disgraced individual should be removed from every post. What maniacs and prevents do we have in office?
Vito was over the years a strong leader and pro-spanish vs jewish interests in Williamsburgh. The suffered a lot and the fringes of his projects campaign has made the housing project a drug infested, crime filled area. When a Jewish tenant applies for a larger apt, or has to downsize, he gets an apt in Bronx, Queens, etc. The amount of rishes, and cruelty this man has, is sky reaching.
This was the opinion of “all jewish leaders” for years, until private interest overturned the straight thinking. But I am not here to criticize jewish leaders who work hard for us, so will just leave it at. B’avoid reshuim rinoo.
B”H his time came. He has a lot of Jewish blood on his hands
Glad this scumbag is going down
It’s about time.
The latest news on this guy is just representative of a long history of disgraceful behavior.
What a blessing, especially because we see so much of this go unreported and unpunished.
Mazel tov!!
a ‘Moifes’ of R’ Aharon Teitelbaum?
Where there is smoke, there is fire!!