Talk Bronx New York

East Bronx City Councilman Jimmy Vacca may be stepping up in that august body.

He is now chairman of the Council’s committee on fire and criminal justice services, but our City Hall consigliere Frank Lombardi tells us the powers that be are pushing to give the hardworking Jimmy the plum job of chairman of the transportation committee.

After finance and land use, it’s the third most powerful committee, drawing heavy media attention.

John Liu leveraged his chairmanship of it to help propel him into the controller’s seat.

Giving Jimmy the committee would give him a chance to take on the MTA, add muscle to the Bronx delegation and help position him for possible higher office - maybe borough president, should Ruben Diaz Jr. decide to step down to run for some citywide office (mayor?) in 2013 when Jimmy’s term expires.

Jimmy was unavailable for comment. Read more..

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Let’s see. Arrogance. Greed. Sleaze.

Are we leaving anything out here?

It all happened last week:
# State Sen. Pedro Espada toppling Democratic control in the Senate by crossing over to shake down the Republican camp.

That, after Dems stopped the Wascally Wabbit from trying to sneak $2 million in pork barrel funding to two questionable groups linked to his health clinic chain - not the first time he has tried it.

Some folks are also wondering if those files Pedro temporarily claimed were stolen in a burglary at his Mamaroneck “home” might not have been on someone’s subpoena list.
# State Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo and City Councilwoman daughter Maria (Will Change Last Name for Votes) del Carmen Arroyo glomming free flights to the Caribbean.

Those trips courtesy of Carmen’s grandson/Maria’s nephew Richard (Little Ricky) Izquierdo Arroyo.

The feds charged him and Margarita Villegas with stealing $200,000 in goods and services from a South Bronx nonprofit linked to one the Arroyos funded and larded with relatives. Read more..

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Mayor Bloomberg wasted no time in calling a special election to fill the Bronx borough president seat officially vacated at midnight last night by Adolfo Carrion, issuing a proclamation at 9 a.m. this morning that the nonpartisan race will be held April 21.

Whoever is elected will serve out the remainder of Carrion’s term, which ends Dec. 31, 2009. That means the winner of what might be a contentious and hard-fought election will have to turn around and defend the seat in the fall.

Carrion starts his new job with the Obama administration this morning; Bloomberg had 45 days to call the special election to replace him. (It was briefly speculated that the mayor would allow the vacancy to remain until November to save money, but obviously that did not come to pass). Read more..

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First, Mayor Bloomberg got his finger nipped in the groundhog’s den.

Now, he’s finding something else getting nipped in a lion’s den, dealing with Bronx Republican Party Chairman Jay Savino and the other GOP county leaders.

Savino is digging his heels in over endorsing the Man Who Would Buy King, saying Bloomberg’s not likely at the moment to win the legally required support of at least three county leaders to put him on the Republican ticket for a third term.

Bloomberg’s history as a swinger - from registered Dem to Republican to independent - has left all five county leaders unhappy.

“But it’s more about a couple of issues - extending term limits, congestion pricing and the tax hikes,” said Savino, who is a strong supporter of Rudy Giuliani - who’s a strong supporter of Bloomberg. But it hasn’t swayed Savino.

In fact, the Bronx party is throwing a spring reception, honoring, among others, billionaire bizman and potential GOP mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis. Read more..

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Well, our guayabera shirt stayed in the closet and not on our back in San Juan this weekend.

The boss said sending Liz Benjamin, this newspaper’s energetic and talented political columnist and blogger, would be sufficient to cover Somos El Futuro, the annual winter conference of New York’s Hispanic legislators.

I fear Liz and I are at cross-purposes in this Brave New Media World of slapping news right onto the Web site vs. saving it for Kappy’s Tuesday gossip column.

Unfortunately, the Bronx political scene has become hot news citywide, and just won’t wait for the column.

Herewith, the big Bronx stories - with some exclusive updates:
# Bronx state Senators Ruben (The Rev.) Diaz Sr. and Pedro (The Wascally Wabbit) Espada joining a rogue devil cult in the Senate with Hiram Monserrate of Queens and Carl Kruger of Brooklyn, trying to spoil Democrats’ winning edge and elevating Malcolm Smith of Queens from minority to majority leader.

Monserrate, who we hear got a rather heavy duty call from Queens Democratic boss and Bronx/Queens Rep. Joe Crowley, cut out of the cult over the weekend, trading his vote in to chair the Consumer Affairs committee.

We hear The Rev. may be the next to bail, at least remaining neutral, beyond stalling a vote for legalizing gay marriage.

“If Malcolm doesn’t find some way to woo Carl and Pedro,” said an Albany source, “the Democrats are screwed.”

The cult is set to hold a conclave today in the Bronx. Read more..

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