Don't expect a harmonious duet from Ruben Diaz Jr. and Jennifer Lopez anytime soon.

The borough president slammed the Bronx-bred songstress yesterday for staying silent during what he called the worst hatchet job on the borough since Howard Cosell told a national TV audience "The Bronx is burning" three decades ago.

"American Idol" served up a gritty portrayal of the borough as a litter-strewn urban badland during its Wednesday show.

"There wasn't even a peep from her defending the Boogie Down," groused Diaz. "Here, we have a young lady sitting at the panel, someone brought up in Castle Hill, someone to whom the Bronx offered plenty of opportunities, and she did not say a word.

"Not a peep. Not even a peep!"

Along with Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson, Lopez serves as a judge on "Idol."

The segment told the story of contestant Travis Orlando's upbringing. Orlando, 16, spent three years in a Bronx homeless shelter.

"Tell me about growing up in the Bronx for you," asked Idol host Ryan Seacrest.

"It was tough," responds Orlando. "Gangs, drugs, violence.. .You have robberies, you have killings, anything you can possibly imagine goes on here."

Then they walk a street off the Grand Concourse, as ghetto-like images flash of a pay phone with a dangling receiver and an apparent makeshift memorial on a sidewalk.

A police car flashes its lights, accompanied by the sound of sirens. The camera pans to litter-filled streets with an empty plastic bag blowing down the sidewalk like tumbleweed. An FDNY ambulance barrels down the street and kids play in the spray from an open fire hydrant.

Orlando opens the metal-gated door to the building where his family once lived. He talks in front of walls marred by graffiti.

The contestant, who advanced, sang a rendition of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" and "I'm Yours," by Jason Mraz.

Meanwhile, Diaz did say that "Idol" fans should vote "early and often" for Orlando.

"I'm going to be dialing in as much as I can," he said. "Unlike a democratic election, you can vote as many times as you like."

Lopez, who grew up in the Bronx and acquired the moniker Jenny from the Block, has carved a successful career from music and movies. But Lopez has now been criticized by her former principal, Claire La Tempa, from the Holy Family School, for allegedly turning her back on the community.

La Tempa, who worked alongside the star's mother Guadalupe at the school, tells the New York Daily News, "Jennifer hasn't even sent us a CD. (Her mother) Lupe was wonderful, a sweetie, and wonderful with the kids. When Jennifer became famous, I asked Lupe if Jennifer could donate a scholarship in her name, and Lupe just said, 'Uh-uh! That's her money and that's it.'

"The recession has hit parents hard. Many of them are single mothers. A lot have lost their jobs. I have one mother who worked at St. Vincent's Hospital for 25 years - and she's out of work now. It's hard for families to make the tuition... I keep praying she'll donate the pink diamond engagement ring Ben Affleck gave her."
Jennifer Lopez was born and grew up in Castle Hill. Lopez's debut album On the 6, a reference to the 6 subway line she used to take growing up in Castle Hill was released on June 1, 1999, and reached the top ten of the Billboard 200.