Assemblyman regrets filter vote

In response to rising costs and issues concerning groundwater, Bronx Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr., who is a candidate for Bronx borough president in 2009 told talk show host Gary Axelbank on Monday night that he and his colleagues were "misled" by the city before they voted to site the plant in Van Cortlandt Park.

"We need to come to grips that we were misled," Mr. Diaz told Mr. Axelbank. "If we had known then what we know now, we would have voted differently."

He also said the project has produced many fewer Bronx jobs than originally promised. Even though he gave the DEP applications of 31 constituents, he said, "Not a single person has received a job."

The first assemblyman to say he regrets his vote, Mr. Diaz also said that his colleague Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who was the only Bronx assemblyman to vote against the project, was right to do so.

Mr. Diaz made his comments on BronxTalk PrimeTime, which is rebroadcast on Cablevision channel 67 (Bronxnet) all week at 9 p.m.

As a possible candidate for the Bronx borough presidency, Mr. Diaz's comments may put city Councilman Joel Rivera, another likely candidate on the hot seat. Mr. Rivera's father, Bronx Democratic Party chair Jose Rivera, was responsible for the parks-for-plant deal that enabled the siting of the plant in Van Cortlandt Park.