Tom Robbins Gives the "Gang of Three" the Business

BoogieDowner's favorite Village Voice reporter, Tom Robbins, is at it again.

In Mr. Robbins' most recent piece, "How the 'Gang of Three' Ties Up Senate Dems," he tears into the shady pasts of each of the so-called "Gang of Three." Beyond basically painting the "Gang" as political extortionists, Robbins lays bare the insanity that is each of these politicians' past misdeeds.

BoogieDowner will reproduce the choicest excerpts dealing with our neighbor, Pedro Espada, Jr., but you really should read the whole piece for nuggets like the fact that Ruben Diaz, Sr. "[i]n 1997, [Diaz] insisted that gays be barred from entering the city to participate in a series of sporting events because they were likely to spread AIDS."

Here's the juicy Espada parts (nothing too new here, except for the personal wire-wearing in 1998):


"Pedro Espada Jr., 54, is a peppery ex-boxer who has been giving the Bronx Democratic organization conniptions for years. In 1998, while facing charges of steering money from a large health clinic he runs into his political campaigns, Espada wore his own secret listening device to meetings with top Democratic officials. One meeting caught then party boss Roberto Ramirez suggesting that Espada's legal troubles would go away if he withdrew from politics. "If you sit out, there's peace in the valley," Ramirez was heard saying.

Espada beat that case at trial. But a few years later, three of his top aides pleaded guilty to state charges of having diverted $30,000 in clinic funds into his campaigns, while another went to prison for perjury. The money had been intended to help poor families and patients suffering from AIDS.

In an earlier stint in the senate, Espada cut a deal to vote with former Republican majority leader Joe Bruno. In exchange, he was allotted $2 million in grant money to dispense, $745,000 of which he promptly routed to his own health clinics. The grants were only pulled back after the Times exposed them. There are also record-keeping concerns: Espada failed to make any of the required campaign filings this year. He blames a young campaign treasurer. "Every single expenditure is known to the Board of Elections," he says. The board still fined him $60,000." [Tom Robbins, Village Voice]

Thank you, Mr. Robbins!


*picture of shocked Pedro Espada courtesy of http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/espadashocked.jpg*

~ErLu

Espada Lives Here (I guess...)

According to a recent NY Daily News article, our lovely and congenial neighbor (my fingertips are dripping with sarcasm right now), has likely dodged a Bronx residency bullet. As you may recall, we posted about this issue a few days ago after he was pretty sassy with an 85 year old neighbor of ours. There's even a You Tube video catching his decidedly un-neighborly interactions with the residents in our Bedford Park building.

Not exactly sure how Espada's getting away with this one... the residents in our co-op where he supposedly lives never see, hear, or speak to him. Even his utility bill proved to be suspiciously low. I guess he just never turns on his lights so he can save to pay for his four cars (none of which are linked to the Bronx). Call me thrifty, but geez, four cars? A bit excessive, neighbor! Since he now lives here, hopefully I'll soon see Espada in the laundry room and we can wax political together while folding our undies!

If you'd like to lose even more respect for our Bronx political heroes, check out:

• The brilliant Tom Robbins' Village Voice article about the dumb and dumber Bronx Democratic Primary.
  
• A 2005 New York Times article detailing how some of Espada's former employees plead guilty to taking advantage of poor and sick patients of his Soundview Health Center to further his political career.

~ErLu