Harassment claim rocks Grodenchik
Northeast Queens lawmaker loses budget negotiation seat amid ethics investigation
BY BILL PARRY
City Councilman Barry
Grodenchik was summoned
to a hearing before the
Standards and Ethics
Committee Thursday
for a hearing on alleged
sexual harassment — and
was immediately stripped
of his position from the
Budget Negotiating Team
by Speaker Corey Johnson
and may lose his leadership
position as well.
“Earlier this year, at the
end of a meeting where we
were finalizing important
legislation, I am told that
I brief ly shook hands and
hugged several people
involved in the process
and thanked them for their
hard work and diligence,”
Grodenchik said in a lengthy
statement. “I have since been
the subject of a complaint
that this action made an
individual uncomfortable,
and as a result, the Speaker
has decided that I should be
punished by being stripped
of my Chair of the Parks and
Recreation Committee.”
Sources say Grodenchik’s
removal from his chair
is a recommendation by
Johnson that needs to be
confirmed by the full City
Council in a vote that has
yet to be scheduled.
“No one should ever be
made to feel uncomfortable
in the workplace and
singled out for unwanted
attention,” Johnson said.
“The Standards & Ethics
Committee investigated and
deliberated over this matter
very carefully.”
Johnson went on to
state that his decision to
remove Grodenchik from
his chairmanship was made
“in light of their decision
to formally charge Council
Member Grodenchik
and launch disciplinary
proceedings against him.”
Grodenchik stated that
he never intended to make
anyone feel uncomfortable,
and that he “sincerely”
apologizes “if my actions
had that effect.”
“For me, as is true for
many of my colleagues, a
hug is a common greeting for
people I have known for a long
time, but as others do not feel
that way, I will certainly be
more sensitive to that in the
future,” he added.
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TIMESLEDGER, A 2 PR. 12-18, 2019
The development comes
a day after former Vice
President Joe Biden vowed
to be “more mindful” of
others personal space after
a weeklong media frenzy
that followed a complaint
from a former Nevada
assemblywoman. Lucy
Flores claimed Biden had
touched her inappropriately,
smelled her hair and kissed
her head in 2014.
Nonetheless, Grodenchik
was f lummoxed by Johnson’s
decision.
“The Speaker’s actions
in my case are an overreaction,
with an excessive
punishment that is harmful
to this body,” Grodenchik
said. “Harassment is a
real issue that we need to
address, but we have to have
some common sense and
reasonableness about what
is intended by someone’s
actions. Whie we need to
change some traditional
behavior, we must do so
without punishing people
for being human and without
ruining lives and careers.”
Grodenchik represents
the 23rd Council District
which includes Bayside
Hills, Bellerose, Douglaston,
Queens Village, Fresh
Meadows, Hollis and
Little Neck among other
neighborhoods. He was
elected to the City Council
in 2015 and re-elected in
2017. He served in the state
Assembly following more
than a decade at Borough
Hall.
QNS.COM
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
The Lewis Latimer House
Museum in Flushing has
received an award from
the New York Landmarks
Conservancy for its
outstanding preservation
efforts.
The museum — located at
34-41 137th St. — is one among
many restoration projects
that have been announced as
a winner of the 2019 Lucy G.
Moses Preservation Award
and will be recognized at the
April 23 ceremony at The Plaza
in Manhattan.
“The Lucys are a
joyous celebration of great
preservation work and great
preservation leaders,” said Peg
Breen, president of The New
York Landmarks Conservancy.
“It’s a wonderful and, often
moving, look at why historic
homes and institutions mean
so much to us.”
The Lucy G. Moses
Preservation Awards are the
Conservancy’s highest honors
for excellence in preservation.
The Awards recognize
individuals, organizations
and building owners for their
extraordinary contributions
to the city.
“The Lewis Latimer House
Museum is gratified to receive
this award, in recognition of the
collaborative efforts between
Lewis Howard Latimer Fund,
New York City Department of
Parks & Recreation, Historic
House Trust of New York City,
and the contractor Baschnagel
Brothers, to restore this
unique African American
heritage site for the public
good,” said Ran Yan, executive
director of the museum. “It
was a community effort, with
paint donated from Benjamin
Moore’s historical colors pallet
and a volunteer day with future
preservation students from the
Mather High School.”
Named after Lewis
H. Latimer, a brilliant
innovator who overcame a
lack of formal education to
become a great inventor,
the museum celebrates his
achievements as well as
African-American heritage
and inspires a future
generation of visionaries.
“I have spent 25 years in
public service. For nearly
two decades of that time, I
worked for four amazing and
strong women,” Grodenchik
said. Those women included
an Assemblywoman and
three Presidents of the
Borough of Queens, My only
goal has always been to
simply help people. During
my career, I have never in
those three decades been
accused of any misdeeds.
I will certainly take the
lesson of what has been
brought to my attention and
use it to grow as a person,
but I will not allow the good
name my parents gave to me
to be dragged through the
mud for this single action,
as the Speaker well knows,
was never intended to make
anyone uncomfortable.”
Grodenchik closed his
statement with an appeal to
his colleagues in the City
Council to stand up for him
“and reject the Speaker’s
attempts” to remove
him from his leadership
position.
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by e-mail at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
Councilman Barry Grodenchik Photo by Mark Hallum
Conservancy honor for Latimer House
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