Council Kills Committee Led By Ruben Diaz Sr

NEW YORK CITY HALL — The City Council voted Wednesday to kill a committee led by Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr. following the embattled lawmaker's incendiary comments about gay people.

With a vote of 45 to 1, with three absentions, the Council approved a resolution to dissolve the For-Hire Vehicles Committee, which was formed only about a year ago with Diaz, a conservative Democrat, at the helm. The panel's jurisdiction over the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission will be transferred to the existing Transportation Committee.

The resolution was a direct response to Diaz's recent homophobic remarks and his refusal to apologize for them, Speaker Corey Johnson said, adding that he hopes the move will start a "healing process" for the Council.

"I regret appointing Council Member Diaz to be chair and I believe the only way forward is to dissolve this committee," Johnson, an openly gay Democrat, said. "He does not belong in a leadership position at this Council."

Diaz was not in the Council chamber for the vote. Reached by phone Wednesday before the full meeting, he did not comment on the move but noted that he's planning to rally with supporters at his Bronx office on Thursday.

The vote signaled the first official consequences for Diaz since his recent claim on a radio show that the "homosexual community" controls most Council members.

The Christian minister and former state senator has refused to apologize and resisted clamoring calls for his resignation, arguing that he has been bullied for his remarks.

Lawmakers took the extraordinary step of eliminating the entire seven-member committee — which has grappled with issues in the city's beleaguered taxi industry — rather than simply removing Diaz as its chair.

Under the Council rules, a committee chair can be removed from his or her post with a vote of at least two thirds of the chamber.

Diaz was the only Council member who asked that the new committee be created last year, Johnson said. The speaker acknowledged that its work was important — it has passed 16 bills, including last summer's landmark freeze on most new for-hire vehicles — but said "a big bulk" of its tasks have already been accomplished.

"I was too accommodating. I shouldn’t have done it," Johnson said.

Some lawmakers expressed procedural concerns about eliminating an entire committee with little debate at a time when there is still a need for it.

Among those abstaining was Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, who chairs the Transportation Committee that will inherit the work of Diaz's panel. He praised Diaz's work to address the taxi industry's woes. Diaz has reportedly endorsed Rodriguez's candidacy for public advocate.

"I don’t agree with Reverend Diaz position on the LGBTQ community, but I have to give credit to his fight for the constituency that he represents," Rodriguez said.

Councilman Chaim Deutsch was the sole no vote on the resolution. He said he would rather "bring [Diaz] closer than further, and let him know that words are very strong."

Johnson shook his head at Deutsch's remarks.

(Lead image: Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr. is seen on Feb. 12, 2018. Photo by John McCarten/New York City Council)