Health care gives Espada lots of votes

Photo credit: Rob Sgobbo

Pearl Cabrelea, 46, said she had never voted in an election, until Pedro Espada Jr. convinced her to vote for the first time last November.

“People kept telling me I should get out there, because things needed to be changed in the community,” Cabrelea said. The 15-year resident of Valentine Avenue in the Mount Hope section of the South Bronx said she always thought changes needed to happen in her neighborhood. “People here are poor, you know? But people… you know, politicians… were saying they could bring some good here.” Continue Reading

Rep. Charles Rangel tries to keep his touch

By Frances McInnis
November 4, 2009

Rep. Charles Rangel takes questions from reporters regarding alleged financial improprieties on Capitol Hill in Washington. Photo Credit: Associated Press

One hundred and fifty subpoenas. Thirty-four witnesses. Twenty-one thousand pages of transcripts and 12,000 pages of documents. The end of a 36-year congressional career? Continue Reading

Pedro Espada fights off his many critics

October 31, 2009
By Lauren Kirchner

Photo credit: Lauren Kirchner

New York State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. looked bored. At the podium on the other side of the stage, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. was whipping up the crowd. Continue Reading

Just where is it for Pedro Espada?

By Victoria Rossi

November 5, 2009

Four fresh pumpkins sit on the front steps of the house that Pedro Espada Jr. says isn’t his real home.

Three children ignored the front door just after school let out Tuesday as they dashed from a black Mercedes through the garage entrance that opened quickly and shut. The car’s driver stayed invisible behind tinted glass and sped off, just missing the trashcan and cardboard recycling someone had left out on the driveway. Inside the warmly lit house, a dog yipped frantically. A small hand pushed aside the blinds that darkened the front glass door, then let them drop. No one answered the doorbell. Continue Reading