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Read the press release here.

Details Emerge About City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez's Alleged 'Touching' Incident

By Carla Zanoni | July 27, 2010 12:56pm
Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez continues his fight against allegations that he inappropriately
Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez continues his fight against allegations that he inappropriately "touched" a member of the City Council staff.
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Flickr/ WNYC

By Carla Zanoni

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

UPPER MANHATTAN — Details of the alleged "touching" incident involving City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez were revealed Monday when his attorney filed an injunction seeking to have a Council hearing on the incident held in public.

Rodriguez is accused of having "poked" a City Council staffer "between the throat and upper chest during a budget discussion" on June 25, according to the lawyer's filing. The discussion apparently grew heated after Rodriguez, the Chairman of the Council's Higher Education Committee, had not been informed of a $250,000 budget cut for Hispanic education groups.

Rodriguez has publicly denied any wrongdoing.

The name and gender of the staffer was not revealed in the document.

Though only the Councilman, his chief of staff, and the complainant are apparently the only witnesses to the poke, the Standards and Ethics Committee of the Council plans to call five witnesses to testify, two of which are members of the committee, the document said.

The injunction was posted on the Daily News website.

Rodriguez's attorney Leo Glickman objected to the committee's stipulation that bars Rodriguez and his counsel from questioning the witnesses and requested that the Council review video footage shot in the area of the incident in order to “determine the demeanor” of the complainant and the Councilman at the time of the alleged incident.

This move is the latest in a series of public protests the Councilman’s office has engaged in over the past week.

Last Friday, approximately 150 supporters rallied for the Councilman in Washington Heights, and the office has scheduled a press conference featuring community leaders and residents at 2 p.m. Tuesday on the corner of West 177th Street and Wadsworth Avenue.