NYC Councilman Chris Marte won’t fire aide accused of harassing reporter: ‘It is not unforgivable’

Manhattan Councilman Christopher Marte said Thursday he won’t fire a top aide who allegedly berated a female journalist with misogynistic slurs because he does not believe the staffer’s actions are “unforgivable.”

The Marte aide, Steven Wong, left four voicemails on Feb. 15 with the journalist, Lotus Chau of Chinese-language Sing Tao Daily, in which he repeatedly called her a “c–t” and other offensive terms in Cantonese, according to a complaint Chau filed with the City Council.

The Council’s general counsel office has investigated Chau’s complaint since last month. In the interim, Marte has held off on taking any action.

On Thursday morning, Marte said the general counsel’s office returned the matter to him late last week and deferred to him on what action to take against Wong.

While slamming Wong’s outburst as “unacceptable,” Marte told The News that he won’t fire him because he does not believe Chau’s translation of the voicemails was accurate.

“The recording that was provided to our office does not match the translation provided by Ms Chau,” he said in a statement. “There is usage of Cantonese slang curse words which are unprofessional and inappropriate. We do not find them as grounds for termination. While Steven uses curse words to describe a newspaper, the reporter, and political opponents, the recording does not demonstrate sexist behavior.”

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