Espada Defiant in Confusing Concession Speech

When Pedro Espada Jr. stepped down from the podium in the back of La Luna Lounge in Tremont after giving a short, fiery and somewhat confusing concession speech into a crush of reporters, the small but raucous crowd began chanting.

"ESPADA! ESPADA! ESPADA!" they bellowed.

One of the most vocal chanters was Mike J. "Hollywood" McCray, "a.k.a 'Nine Milli,' but not because I like guns, if you know what I mean," he said. When asked what he thought about Espada's loss, McCray's face momentarily dropped. "He lost? I thought he won."

Laura ("but everyone calls me 'Cookie'") Rosario was equally perplexed. "We win? No, we lost?" she said. No matter, Rosario said, "I'm proud and I'm glad I worked for him. I'm still a winner."

Rosario and McCray were typical of Espada's supporters last night. They didn't realize what was saying to them -- there were no TVs in the place to show results -- and they didn't believe any of the negative press surrounding Espada's re-election campaign, even as it became the overriding theme of nearly every news story about him.

McCray, sporting a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey and toting a Heineken, said he voted for Espada because "he comes to the hood. Homeboy is all over," he said. "And he gave me some of them platanos the other day."

After Espada exited, McCray and others provided an animated background for television reports filming their segments for the evening news.

Sitting at one of the tables, sipping a Budweiser and chatting to two other older white men, was Steve Pigeon, the Buffalo political activist who became Espada's $150,000-a-year general counsel after helping him orchestrate last summer Senate coup, along with billionaire Tom Golisano.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed," Pigeon said, adding that he felt coverage of the race was obviously "one-sided" and that the media had turned Espada into some kind of "Beelzebub."

"There was no fair reporting about him," Pigeon said.

No one gave Espada credit for bringing some reform to Albany as a result of briefly siding with Republicans last summer, Pigeon said, citing the end of "three-men-in-a-room" decision making and the empowering of committee chairs. (Many pundits brushed the reforms off as mostly cosmetic at the time.)

Talking to reporters, Espada said much the same thing. "What I tried to do was become an independent voice," he said, "at a great cost to myself and my family." 

"I think he was dealt a bad hand," Pigeon said. "But you haven't seen the last of him -- or me."

Firms With Espada Ties Investigated for Tax Fraud, Money Laundering

Two consulting firms with links to State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. are the subject of a federal probe into alleged tax fraud and money laundering, numerous newspapers and blogs are reporting.

One firm, A-1 Multi-Service LLC, seems to exist in name-only. According to state records it's located at 2384 Hughes Ave. in Tremont, but that address is only home to apartments and a cigar shop. (Here's a photo.)

The other firm, GDP Consulting in Niagara Falls, shares an address with an accounting business with ties to Steve Pigeon, Espada's senate counsel.

News reports say Pigeon and Espada's son, Pedro G. Espada, are also part of the investigation.

Specifically, the feds are looking into why GDP Consulting paid A-1 Multi-Service tens of thousands of dollars in the last nine months or so.

This afternoon, at a press conference in Albany, Sen. Espada denied having any connection to A-1, but wouldn't say if his son did. He called the allegations 100 percent false and said they were politically motivated. (At the weekend, Desiree Prigrim-Hunter, a Bronx community activist, formally announced that she would run against him this fall.)

For more on all of this, see here, here, here, and here.

According to campaign finance records, A-1 hasn't contributed to Espada's campaign coffers, but, interestingly, it has given $1,000 to his good friend State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. (see p. 2), as well as $150 to Noam Bramson, the mayor of New Rochelle.  We emailed Diaz's office to find out what that's all about. (Thanks to the BxNN reader who sent us the tip)  UPDATE 6:30 P.M.:  Last month, Hiram Monserrate, the former state senator and another Espada ally, received $9,600 from GDP Consulting, the STATE of POLITICS blog is reporting.