16 APRIL 29, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
NYC’s #1 Source for Political & Election News
Ridgewood City Council candidate ‘regrets’ racist,
anti-gay online comments he made as a teenager
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Juan Ardila, a candidate for City Council in District
30 challenging incumbent Robert Holden,
said he “regrets” the racist, anti-gay and misogynistic
language he used in social media posts as a
teenager, aft er they surfaced in news reports earlier
this week.
The New York Post reported on Ardila’s Facebook
posts, in which he used an anti-Asian slur against
Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, derogatory
words against women, gay people, Polish people
and Jews, as well as a purported use of the “N-word.”
The now-deleted posts appear to have been posted
10 years ago, when Ardila, who is currently 27 years
old, was in high school.
Ardila, who’s running a progressive campaign,
doesn’t deny making the comments and apologized
for the off ensive language.
“As a high school student, I regret that I used
off ensive language in response to social media
comments amongst classmates,” Ardila said. “I have
dedicated my entire adult life to public service and
the comments I said as a teenager are nowhere near
refl ective of the person I am today.”
Holden, a conservative Democrat, said he was
“shocked and saddened” by the “vile language,” adding
that he knows fi rsthand “the ugliness, fear and
violence that racist attitudes cause” as the husband
of an Asian American woman.
“While there is room on the Council and throughout
our city for diversity of opinion and spirited
debate on many issues, New Yorkers of all political
stripes must stand united in condemnation of the
hateful attitudes expressed by Ardila’s reprehensible
words,” Holden said.
Ardila and Holden are both running as Democrats
in the June primary to represent District 30,
which encompasses Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth,
Middle Village, Woodhaven and Woodside.
Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan, a lifelong
Ridgewood resident, joined former Assemblyman
Mike Miller in saying that Ardila’s posts are enough
to reject his candidacy.
“I am reminded of the extremely duplicitous behavior
of Mr. Ardila when he came to the Ridgewood
Democratic Club last year, before the COVID-19 outbreak,”
Nolan said. “Because he was young, I gave
him the benefi t of the doubt, but as the ignorant
rhetoric demonstrated in his posts has shown, it
seems that this young man has had diffi culties with
the truth, and his moral principles, for some time.”
Holden also called on all the organizations and
elected offi cials who’ve endorsed Ardila to rescind
their support.
Holden has received endorsements from the United
Federation of Teachers, NYPD Police Benevolent
Juan Ardila is running to represent City Council District 30. Photo courtesy of Juan Ardila’s campaign
Association, and a slew of unions who represent
fi refi ghters and other laborers.
Ardila is backed by several influential
organizations and unions, including the Working
Families Party, 32BJ, 1199 SEIU, DC 37, Make
the Road Action, and most recently the Stonewall
Democrats of NYC, the city’s oldest gay
Democratic club.
He’s also received the support of several progressive
lawmakers, including state Senators Jessica
Ramos and Michael Gianaris, Assemblywoman
Catalina Cruz, Queens Borough President Donovan
Richards and Councilmen Brad Lander and Jimmy
Van Bramer.
Van Bramer, who’s running his own campaign for
Queens borough president, told QNS that the words
Ardila used as a teenager were “reprehensible,” but
didn’t address Holden’s calls for his endorsements
to be taken back.
“He has taken responsibility and apologized to
me personally and to all rightfully off ended and
hurt by that language,” Van Bramer said. “I believe
Juan when he says he would never use those words
again and that they do not refl ect the man he has
become.”
Ardila’s campaign spokesperson Paul
Henderson told QNS that his endorsements
“remain fully supportive.”
Henderson accused Holden’s campaign of “digging
up” comments from Ardila’s teen years as a “desperate
attempt to make up for his own dismal record on
supporting equality and opposing discrimination.”
“Bob has actively opposed rights for transgender
and gender-nonconforming New Yorkers, opposed
prohibiting employment discrimination and harassment
based on New Yorkers’ sexual and reproductive
health decisions, and even quit the immigration
committee in the City Council because of its support
for immigrant communities,” Henderson said.
In response, Kevin Ryan, Holden’s campaign
spokesperson said Ardila was “caught redhanded”
making deplorable comments that are
“indefensible.”
“It’s not surprising that Mr. Ardila is so desperate
to distract from the hateful language he was caught
posting as recently as when he was 20 years old and
certainly not a kid, that he’s lying about Councilman
Holden’s spotless record of public service to all New
Yorkers,” Ryan said.
QNS was not able to verify Ryan’s claim that Ardila
posted those comments when he was 20. According
to screenshots published by the Post, the comments
were made 10 to 11 years ago. Ryan did not provide
evidence of such comments.
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