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Video: Espada Treats Protesters Like Strippers
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 4, 2010
Modified Aug 4, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 4, 2010
Modified Aug 4, 2010
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Here's a video showing our favorite State Senator from Bronxchester staying real classy in the Capitol. Senator Pedro Espada, Jr., who has come out against rent stabilization and other tenant’s-rights measures, has been targeted by tenants-rights activists for some time now. They hold rowdy protests outside his office, heckle him at public appearances, and even photobomb him at City Hall. It's all good sport, but from the looks of this video it seems Espada's cracking:
The confrontation started when Espada went into a restroom off the Senate lobby, and a group of tenant activists stood outside chanting. Marcela Mitaynes, a tenant organizer for Neighbors Helping Neighbors in Brooklyn, tells the Daily Politics she "held the bathroom door open so the chants would echo louder inside." A nice touch, and when Espada emerged he was a little hot under the collar. Mitaynes says the esteemed gentleman shoved her on his way out the door. And then, as you can see in the video, Espada felt guilty and threw some money into the air. Which is how they solve everything in Albany!
But according to Espada, the group was blockading the bathroom door, "which put me in a position to have to force myself out of the bathroom and through a mob. The same mob that invaded my offices several months ago. The dollar was to help them go back home. We know these are not volunteers. These people are paid to be up here. They are not schooled on the issues. They really are here to serve as intimidators." He added that the incident "reveals a total lack of preparedness in the Senate chambers for what could be an assault on a senator or staff." Clearly Espada needs his son to tag along on future bathroom trips and teach these punks some manners.
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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