A Bronx City Councilwoman earmarked thousands of taxpayer dollars for a tenants association in her former apartment building – an association residents say doesn’t exist.
Councilwoman Maria Baez, a Democrat representing the Fordham and Kingsbridge sections, allocated $7,500 of her Fiscal Year 2008 discretionary funds to the 2401 Davidson Avenue Tenants Association, a group supposedly located in the six-story building she called home until 2005.
The building is also the registered headquarters for her campaign committee, “Friends of Maria Baez,” and home to her campaign treasurer, Nilda Velazquez, who lives in Baez’s former apartment.
But the building’s superintendent and more than a dozen residents interviewed at the 60-unit building said there is no tenants association.
“There’s no association here,” said Elias Guerra, the super.
The regular postal carrier said she couldn’t remember ever delivering a piece of mail to any tenants organization in the building.
Some residents remembered a now-disbanded organization – which last met four years ago.
“We don’t have one anymore,” said Vicky Reyes, listed as the treasurer of the defunct tenants group on an old flier. She said Baez was a member when she lived there.
Reyes said the association dissolved after the former president left several years ago, and hadn’t been active for about four years. She wasn’t aware of anyone trying to revive it.
Velazquez declined comment through family members.
Staffers at Baez’s Bronx district office told a Post reporter, “You’re not welcome here.”
Baez accused The Post of harassing her staff members, and said she only allowed constituent business to be conducted in her office.
She declined to answer specific questions about the tenants group.
“I will not allow anyone to assassinate my character as a Latina woman,” she said.
She added that the organizations she funds are “good organizations” that “provide important services for the community.”
Before the $7,500 could be paid to the tenants association, the council yanked the funding during the vetting process, council spokeswoman Maria Alvarado told the Post. She would not say when or why the funding was nixed.
Baez said, “I have nothing to hide. I’ve done nothing wrong. I work very hard.”
The mysterious member item is the most recent revelation in a growing scandal that came to light when The Post revealed City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s office was allocating $4.7 million in taxpayer dollars to phony organizations. The money was earmarked to fund legitimate groups and pet projects later in the year.
The situation placed in the spotlight the pot of cash that each council member received last year for pet projects in their districts.
A close look at Fiscal Year 2008 member items shows Councilman Larry Seabrook earmarking $912,244 for the 11-month-old African American Chamber of Commerce, which happens to share the same address as his district office in The Bronx.
Councilman Erik Dilan allocated nearly $200,000 to the North Brooklyn Community Council, a nonprofit run by his wife, Jannitza Luna.
The largest allocation was nearly $600,000 to the Ridgewood-Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, a well-respected organization founded by powerhouse Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez, chairman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party. The member item was sponsored by “the Brooklyn delegation.”