Talk Bronx New York

We’ve been covering Pedro Espada for more than 15 years now - although he stopped returning our calls when we slapped The Wascally Wabbit moniker on him (We’re told he WEALLY hates it).

Over that time, we’ve seen him play fast and loose, be it in politics (even secretly taping fellow pols), business, with campaign finance boards or the IRS - and get away with it.

But while he’s managed to squirm and brazen his way out of a bunch of jams, he’s REALLY outdone himself in the chutzpah department over the past few months, rising to state Senate majority leader by committing multiple counts of felony politics.

Just ask Albany Republicans and Democrats who’ve made handshake deals with him and wound up shy a few fingers.

He may be evil, he may be perverse (then again, he IS a politician), but the man is a genius.

Pedro’s parlayed his slippery loyalty, street-thug smarts, double-crossing reputation and don’t-give-a-damn attitude into not only becoming a major power in Albany, but the newest Bronx icon.

Type “Sen. Pedro Espada Bronx” on Google and he gets 236,000 hits - and counting. Jeesh!

El Diario’s Gerson Borrero quoted Pedro last week as telling reporters camped outside his Soundview health clinic: “Do you truly understand that I don’t give a s— about what you write?” Read more..

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Rumblings of a Bronx Comeback From Espada

He has been out of the political spotlight for a few years. But Pedro Espada Jr. is clearly thinking serious of re-emerging into the raucous Bronx electoral life.

Mr. Espada, a former Democratic state senator and one-time candidate for Bronx borough president, is strongly considering running again for the State Senate. However, Mr. Espada, who represented the Hunts Point and Bronx River sections (the 32nd Senate District), is now looking instead at running in the adjacent 33rd Senate District, which stretches from Kingsbridge to East Tremont. He would be challenging the incumbent, Efrain González Jr.

Mr. Espada has long been a colorful political figure and, for a long time, the most prominent enemy of the Bronx Democratic Party organization. He has also been a lightning rod, of sorts, in the heavily Democratic Bronx because of his announcement in 2002 that he would switch parties and become a Republican.

In the end, however, he never officially changed his registration, although he began to sit with the members of the Republican majority to participate in that party’s conferences.

“My wife and I moved to the Mosholu Parkway area and people started asking me to get more involved in community activities, from visiting schools to participating in Little League activities,” Mr. Espada said. “And most of all, these people kept telling me that there should be an alternative to the present incumbent, Senator González.”

As a result, he said, those residents who urged him to run for the Senate, began circulating petitions to collect signatures to qualify Mr. Espada to get a spot on the ballot for the Sept. 9 Democratic primary.

“As of this moment, I have not announced my candidacy,” Mr. Espada said. “And I won’t until I’m convinced that the residents truly want a change.”

But then, Mr. Espada began sounding very much like a candidate ready for political battle.” There is a huge vacuum of leadership in this area and there is no time to lose,” he said. “And I’m positioned to offer them the leadership that this area deserves.”

Mr. González, the former senator said, is a virtual absentee official. “People have simply not heard from the incumbent,” he added. “And that’s not just in the last two years, but in the last 20 years.”

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