'Ghetto' a no-no

Not only is Maria Baez not ghetto, she wants the word symbolically banned in New York City.

On Dec. 9, as the rest of the City Council was negotiating with Speaker Christine Quinn and Mayor Michael Bloomberg over additional proposed budget cuts and spending reductions to soften the impact of the financial crisis on the city, Ms. Baez, who represents part of Kingsbridge, introduced a resolution that would impose the ban.

The legislation has an ironic twist: in August, the Daily News’ Bronx borough chief, Bob Kappstatter, quoted an anonymous source as saying Ms. Baez “acted super ghetto” during and after court actions challenging the validity of the petitions submitted to get her faction of the Democratic Party’s candidates on the ballot for the September primary elections.

And it stands out because Ms. Baez rarely got involved in lawmaking this year, based on a count of the legislation she sponsored or co-sponsored. The say-no-to-ghetto bill is the second resolution introduced this year to bear Ms. Baez’s name. She also co-sponsored two introductions.

Riverdale’s City Councilman Oliver Koppell, in contrast, has sponsored or co-sponsored nearly 90 introductions and 62 resolutions this year.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz used the floor at a recent Community Board 8 meeting to bash Ms. Baez for introducing the bill, implying it was an inappropriate measure to seek while the council was working on how to fix budget cuts.

He said he “wouldn’t name names,” but identified her by the nearly $18,000 cell phone bill she asked the city to pay, reported in May by the Daily News.

Ms. Baez did not return calls for comment by press time.

This is part of the December 18, 2008 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

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