The state legislature isn’t the only one looking to punish Arizona into submission over its new illegal-immigrant law. Tomorrow, Washington Heights and Inwood city councilman Ydanis Rodriguez an immigrant himself, having come to the United States from the Dominican Republic when he was 18 will introduce a resolution condemning the law. But for more concrete results, Rodriguez is reaching out to leaders throughout the city to organize a boycott of Arizona, according to aides, and is trying to get Comptroller John Liu onboard with an effort to make the boycott enforceable for city-connected businesses. The Taiwanese-born Liu, who has called Arizona’s law “scapegoating,” signs off on all contracts the city makes with vendors, and Rodriguez’s chief of staff suggests that one way for a boycott to work would be for Liu to refuse to give Arizona-based businesses his stamp of approval. We’re still awaiting word back from Liu’s office. Although Mayor Bloomberg has come out adamantly against the Arizona law, a spokesman wouldn’t comment on whether Bloomberg would back a boycott until an actual bill had been produced.
