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Espada Son Never Even Showed Up for Cushy State Gig

Pedro G. Espada, at "work."

Less than a week after New York’s Jacob Gershman broke the story that Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada’s son was hired to a $120,000-a-year State Senate job that was created just for him, the young man has quit in disgrace. Pedro G. Espada, whose father wrestled his way to the top Senate position by betraying his party and shutting down the legislative body for much of the summer, was supposed to be a “deputy director of intergovernmental relations,” reporting to work in the Manhattan offices of the Senate. He didn’t show up, though, and instead continued to go to work at his father’s Soundview Health Center in the Bronx. The Post was there, watching him enter and leave the offices, and even talked to his kid, who said he still worked there.

Later in the afternoon, once the young Espada had finally shown up at the right offices, Senate Democrats agreed to let the Post talk to him at his “desk” at 250 Broadway. This is what happened:

Espada — who arrived at the building only after being told that The Post was on the scene — seemed unfamiliar with the layout of the office suite. At one point, he appeared to take direction to his office from a Senate spokesman who chaperoned the interview. The room was dark when Espada arrived, with nothing on the desk. He appeared nervous and fiddled with his BlackBerry when asked to recount activities of the day. He was unable to log on to the computer or point to a single item in the room that could confirm the office had belonged to him.


This was the same afternoon that we broke the story of Andrew Cuomo’s review of the hiring. By the end of the day, Pedro G. Espada had resigned from his new state job.

PEDRO-KINNO SHOWNO-NO [NYP]

Espada Son Never Even Showed Up for Cushy State Gig