Just got off the phone with Pedro Espada, who tells me last night's Youtube video is just another example of the desperate measures Efrain Gonzalez will go to retain his senate seat. Espada said Gonzalez will do anything to distract people from the dwelling on the fact that in October the incumbent senator is facing an extremely serious federal trial on fraud and corrpution charges.
Espada said the Gonzalez campaign is challenging not only his residency, but also the validity of his petition signatures in court and invited me to come see him emerge victorious when he goes in front of a judge next week.
Espada admitted that he also has a home in Mamaroneck and says he's owned that home since 1991. He would not comment on how much time he spends at each residence.
He said residents at the Bedford Park co-op were being manipluated by the man who shot the video, Rafael Martinez Alequin, who Espada says is Gonzaelz staffer. (The woman we spoke with said she had been in contact with Martinez Alequin and Gonzalez's son, Carlos Gonzalez.)
Martinez Alequin is the editor of an online publication called NYCfreepress.com, according to the Web site, which Espada says is also funded by taxpayer money provided by Gonzalez. The Web site does not say how it's funded. But the site also has a link to a blog, yourfreepress.blogspot.com that mostly disparages Espada and says positive things about Gonzalez. The blog has only one link -- to Sen. Gonzalez's own personal blog, called The BX. 33 Report (a reference to the 33rd District that is up for grabs this year).
And one other note: the Free Press blog posted the Espada Youtube video last night. The post below it is a story from the National Enquirer about John Edwards having a second family. Other posts include stories copied and pasted directly from other media outlets, usually with some kind of attribution.
But there's one post that we thought looked very familiar to a post written on the West Bronx Blog by Highbridge Horizon editor Tony Richards about citizen complaints at the 44th Police Precinct. Here's Tony's post. Here's Martinez Alequin's post. In fact, it's a word-for-word rip off. I guess imitation is the greatest form of flattery, so thanks.
Sorry, meant to keep this short, but just spoke with Martinez Alequin who tells me he indeed was hired by Sen. Gonzalez a month ago to do "communications" work 17 and a half hours a week. He wouldn't go into more details and said we should ask Gonzalez for more details. He said the Free Press Web site is run independently with no financial help from the senator and that he went to Espada's co-op last night as an independent journalist.
Stay tuned...
Friday, July 25, 2008
The Espada-Gonzalez Plot Thickens
5 comments:
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Also listed as a resident at Espada's house is a Carmine Rosado. Strange how both he and Espada have the same Mamaroneck address.
ReplyDeleteBut what did Pedro say about threatening the senior in the video? It appears that all this article did was allow Pedro to throw dirt in return to deflect the real issue. That's why Youtube is now the news because writers fall into the ad trap. The bottom line is that the community gathered protecting the building. The episode reminds me of a mother who teaches her children not to talk to strangers. Espada is a stranger in the building. The arrogance of Espada and his return to Mamaroneck too.
ReplyDeleteYou read this you say Espada anything; I can't take that serious. A serious comment is who will replace our despicable Sen Gonzalez? We keep electing this guy never mind what your mother told you cause for the right price, cigar, or house in D.R. he will continue to sellout. This Alequin guy a cheap political tool he has sold out as a reporter, but since his press credential are gone the question is why he doesn't he try to win the heart of the ppl and go print a real news story something on Senator Gonzalez. Certainly sooner or later this guy has to bite the bullet and everyone will get the story then. Now there nothing with this guy; $423,000+ and he goes FREE!!?
ReplyDeleteSen "González Jr. recorded more travel expenditures last year than any other lawmakers in their respective houses." Well im sure traveling to his house in D.R. isn't cheap. And purchasing "pads in the Dominican Republic for his wife and her mom." Fully furnished on our tax dollars.
ReplyDeleteTheres always some problem with the police at 44th Precint! I had a problem and they wouldn't help me, they thought I lying and wasting their time and blew me off. They speak down to us citizens as if we're the criminals when we're really the victims, this isn't only happening in that precint I'm sure it's going on all over the city. Who's hiring these guys? Wheres the real justice? Wheres the real policeman that cares about justice and the citizens? Someone from the inside needs to step up and reform the hiring process and training process. It seems every other week on the news theres some kind of cop scandal happening. What are we as the people going to do?
ReplyDelete