THE SON ALSO RISES

120G POST FOR SENATE TRAITOR'S KID

By FREDRIC U. DICKER, STATE EDITOR

IT'S ALL RELATIVE: Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. (left), who threw the Senate into disarray when he briefly defected to the GOP, has landed a $120,000 Senate gig for his son, Pedro G. Espada (right).

Espada's boss.

His son's new gig is the latest benefit for the elder Espada in the wake of his key role in the "coup" that began June 8 and disrupted the Senate for more than a month.

He and another Senate Democrat, Hiram Monserrate of Queens, initially switched to the Republican side, putting the Legislature's upper house under GOP control.

But five weeks later, Espada switched back to the Democrats and was rewarded with the title of "majority leader," which carries a lucrative extra "lulu" or stipend, as well as expanded office space and new staffers.

Sen. Espada -- who is under investigation by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson for his questionable use of state money earmarked for his Bronx-based social-services agencies, possible state Election Law violations, and the location of his legal residency -- has emerged as a major embarrassment to Senate Democrats since the coup ended.

But Senate Democratic Conference leader John Sampson (D-Brooklyn) and Senate Temporary President Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) have told their allies that they had "no choice" but to make a deal with Sen. Espada in order to return the Senate to Democratic control.

fredric.dicker@nypost.com