There is the 38th parallel between North and South Korea. There’s also the lesser known dividing line between Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. And then there is the inner door separating City Council Member Corazon Pineda-Isaac (D-2nd Dist.) from her own legislative aide.
On the front side of that door sits Albania Frias, who only recently got the legislative aide position. And hunkered down in the inside office is Pineda-Isaac, the independent-minded three-term Southwest Side council member.
For a bit more than a week, Frias has been doing a job that is usually described as “working for” the Council Member. That’s how it is in the other council offices. But those other council offices aren’t occupied by members who once tried to primary Mayor Spano – as Pineda-Isaac did in 2023. And they aren’t occupied by legislative aides who seek public office – as did Fria’s predecessor.
So Pineda-Isaac sits in her office, saying she is handling constituent matters herself. Frias sits in the anteroom, while what exactly she is expected to do for the 2nd District remains, from the outside at least, something of a mystery.
Frias did not respond when contacted Sunday asking for comment.
It’s not like the 2nd District constituents don’t have any problems. Yet this bout of City Hall hardball has produced a kind of divided government in miniature.
The story unfolded early last month after Pineda-Isaac’s previous assistant, Leslye Oquendo-Thomas, was summarily fired after she announced her candidacy for the Westchester County Legislature (see Ledger coverage). Usually it’s bosses who have the pleasure of axing their underlings, but in this case, Pineda-Isaac had nothing to do with it. Rather the chopping implement was allegedly wielded at the direction of City Council Majority Leader John Rubbo (D-4th Dist.)
Oquendo-Thomas, who had worked in City Hall for 12 years, was fired via a hand delivered letter from Rubbo, and then immediately escorted out of the building. Frias may not have been escorted into the building, but it seems to have taken her very little time to get set up in her job.
Councilmember Pineda-Isaac responds
Although Pineda-Isaac is, by Yonkers standards, a maverick, she is typically not given to strident political statements. She certainly didn’t hold back after she was told she would be working with a party-approved new legislative aide. “Council Member John Rubbo has taken it upon himself to decide who will replace my legislative aide,” she wrote in an April 1 social media letter to her constituents. “Not suggest. Not collaborate. Decide.” She declared that she would personally begin to handle constituent requests, giving her phone number and email address in the same post.
Rubbo Defends Hiring
Rubbo denies that he forced the new aide on Pineda-Isaac. “I asked Council Member Pineda-Isaac to submit resumes and, after weeks without candidates, I moved forward to ensure the second district had support,” he wrote in a text to The Yonkers Ledger. “We selected a highly qualified, Spanish-speaking Yonkers resident with over 30 years of customer service experience who reflects the community and has never been politically involved.”
Who is Albania Frias?
Frias comes to the council after working for 30 years in retail banking in the Bronx, starting as a teller and rising to assistant branch manager, according to her resume. She attended City College for two years. Oquendo-Thomas had a BA in political science from SUNY Buffalo and an MA in law and diplomacy from Tufts University, with a long post-graduation career working for the UN in Africa.
“This is nothing against the individual,” Pineda-Isaac said of Frias in a text message. “She was hired without the opportunity of me meeting her. I was interviewing individuals. It takes time to find someone. But from the beginning, Rubbo made it clear he would decide who the person was.”
So how’s it going in the office?
“Yes, she is in the office,” Pineda-Isaac texted. “But I am not personally working with her. I am handling all of my affairs.”
An Unworkable Situation
This would be a harmless farce if council offices did not do anything important. Unfortunately, they do. The 2nd District has one of the city’s largest immigrant populations, with residents who frequently rely on their council member’s office to navigate housing complaints, city agencies, and benefits programs.
So what, exactly, is the legislative aide assigned to the 2nd District doing? Pineda-Isaac’s answer was not encouraging: ‘I assume she will be given work by John Rubbo. Since I am not using her.’
It’s enough to make you want to make a run for the border and defect to another jurisdiction.
(Disclosure: Peter Cohn, who wrote this article, is also an editor at The Yonkers Ledger. He lives in the 2nd District and has donated to Pineda-Isaac’s campaigns. He is also party to an unrelated lawsuit against the city concerning freedom of information requests and a 2023 noise ordinance.)
