Council dissolves panel after chairman's offensive comments

Tensions were elevated at the City Council meeting on Wednesday as lawmakers voted on the fate of an influential committee chaired by Council Member Ruben Diaz Sr. of the Bronx.

Diaz is under fire for telling a Spanish-language radio station last week that he believes City Council is "controlled" by the homosexual community. Instead of apologizing, he doubled down.

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said Diaz's comments caused his colleagues, both LGBT and not, a lot of pain.

Diaz chairs the For-Hire Vehicles Committee, which works closely with the TLC. After Diaz ignored calls for him to resign, the councilmembers introduced a resolution to do away with the committee altogether.

But Diaz found support from Council Members Ydanis Rodriguez and Fernando Cabrera, who both abstained, and Chaim Deutsch, who voted "no." All of them cited Diaz's advocacy for livery drivers in their decision.

After 45 "yes" votes, one "no," and three abstentions, the For-Hire Vehicle Committee was no more.

Diaz was a no-show at the meeting. Fox 5 made several attempts to reach him to comment on the council's action but we didn't hear back.