DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — Supporters of City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, who is accused of aggressively "touching” a council staffer, rallied for the second time in four days in support of his demand that a private City Council hearing on the matter be made 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 a court filing.
Roughly 75 supporters showed up at the rally at West 177th Street and Wadsworth Avenue to back Rodriguez's request that a private hearing held by the Council's Standards and Ethics Committee be opened to the public so that the councilman can voice his side of the story.
Speakers at Tuesday's event said the councilman has been maligned for his physically expressive manner, and said that a cultural divide had contributed to a misunderstanding between Rodriguez and his accuser.
“I am a Latina and when we speak, we speak with our bodies,” Aneiry Batista, a democratic district leader and chief of staff for Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat, said in Spanish. “That doesn’t mean I am offending you or assaulting you.”
Nelson Valdez, a leader of the health care worker union 1199SEUI, said he questioned the Council’s motivation.
“They have turned a complaint into an attack on our community,” he said, pointing and gesticulating in a spirited fashion. “See me how I speak, look at how I look, I am proud to be a Dominican and proud of my culture.”
Rodriguez did not attend the event, which boasted a lively chorus that frequently erupted into chants of "No more of this" and "Dear Ydanis, the people are with you" in Spanish.
The City Council's Standards and Ethics Committee plans to hold its private hearing on the matter tomorrow at 8:30 a.m.
