Exposed: NYC Senator Who Doesn't Live In NYC

CBS 2 HD Finds Out Truth About Sen. Espada: He Represents Bronx But Lives In Wealthy Westchester Town

Espada Criticized For Blocking Deals To Solve MTA Woes

Reporting
Marcia Kramer

NEW YORK (CBS)

A CBS 2 HD investigation has uncovered the fact that state Sen. Pedro Espada, who represents the Bronx, lives nowhere near the Bronx.

It's hard to call Pedro Espada a man of the people.

The state senator from the Bronx has blocked any deal to solve the Metropolitan Transportation Authority budget problems.

That's strange because from his residence in Bedford Park he'd need to hop on the D train for about an hour to catch a train from Penn Station to Albany.

But that's not a problem for Espada because as CBS 2 HD found out he actually lives in Mamaroneck -- outside his district.

Believe it or not the man trying to disguise himself by wearing an orange ski hat is State Sen. Espada -- and he didn't want to talk to CBS 2 HD in the worst way.

CBS 2 HD: "Excuse me Sen. Espada, I wonder if I could talk to you about the MTA …"

Espada: "Please … please … please."

And with that Espada slammed the door.

Espada was so intent on not being seen he held a baby in front of his face as he pulled out of his driveway in Mamaroneck.

And that's the rub. Espada represents a Bronx senate district, but he lives in a nearly $700,000 home in Mamaroneck, that has been in his family since the 1990s.

"He's there a long time. Yeah, he's there all week," neighbor Benny Protano said.

CBS 2 HD undercover video found cars registered to Espada parked in his Mamaroneck driveway at night and again the next morning, indicating that he slept in Mamaroneck.

Espada does own a co-op in the Bronx -- at 325 East 201st St.

Members of the co-op board told CBS 2 HD that while Sen. Espada owns an apartment there he doesn't live here.

"I have never seen him in the building, not ever. I do my laundry in the building. I come and go with my 1-year-old. Unfortunately, I've never seen him here," resident Erin Cicalese said.

What concerns Cicalese and others in the Bronx neighborhood is that Espada is one of a handful of senators holding up an MTA bailout. They feel that a man who spends his time living in a leafy Westchester County suburb can't relate with their fears of steep fare hikes and service cuts promised by the MTA.

"I think that someone who lives in Mamaroneck probably just doesn't understand how that's going to impact working class people who live in the Bronx," Cicalese said.

By living in Mamaroneck Espada may have violated the law. Election law expert Guy Parisi said the state constitution says a lawmaker must live in the district 12 months before he runs and while serving.

"You gotta live there. You have to have a presence there," Parisi said, adding you can't just visit there every once in a while. "Not at all. Not at all and comply with the law.

So just being registered in a certain place is not enough?

"No, its not. If you don't sleep there it is not your domicile," Parisi said.

Through a spokesman Sen. Espada admitted to owning the Mamaroneck house for 18 years, but he claimed the Bronx co-op is his primary domicile.

He also said that when he is in Albany one of his cars is "always parked outside" Mamaroneck or the Bronx because he can only drive one car at a time.

But during the time CBS 2 HD watched Espada's Mamaroneck house both his cars were parked there.