Pedro Espada
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Will the Fare Hike Four Face Pro-Transit Primary Challengers?
Last week we profiled Igor Oberman, the challenger gunning to unseat State Senator Carl Kruger this September who's made support for transit, including bridge tolls, a centerpiece of his campaign. So, what's going on with the other three members of the Fare Hike Four -- Pedro Espada, Rubén Díaz Sr., and Hiram Monserrate. Their anti-transit obstinacy undercut the MTA's finances, leading to the sweeping service cuts about to take effect, but have they drawn challengers committed to improving subways and buses? In these three districts, it seems, unseating the incumbents wouldn't necessarily mean that the work of transit advocacy is done.
May 11, 2010
Fare Hike Four to Paterson: Not So Fast
In case you've forgotten who's in charge these days, Governor Paterson's nomination of Jay Walder to succeed Lee Sander as MTA chief was quickly met with a joint statement from Malcolm Smith, John Sampson, and Fare Hike Four members Pedro Espada and Carl Kruger. In the interest of "transparency and accountability," the senators say they plan to put Walder in front of their committees before any decision is made. Kruger, for his part, tells The Daily Politics that he doesn't consider the backbone of the region's economy to be a particularly urgent agenda item.
July 14, 2009
Transpo Bills Gummed Up By State Senate Dysfunction
After spending the last five weeks affirming Albany's status as the nation's most dysfunctional state capital, the State Senate will have one last extraordinary session this Wednesday before calling it a year. The chamber is not expected to pass much in the way of transportation bills. (The Assembly wrapped up its session last month.) Here's a short summary of unfinished livable streets business which the Senate and Assembly will leave behind until the 2010 legislative session.
July 13, 2009
Bronx Rep Pedro Espada, Anti-Toll Stalwart, Lives in Westchester
How's this for windshield perspective? One of the loudest foes of a sensible MTA funding solution, Fare Hike Four member Pedro Espada, doesn't even reside in the Bronx district that he represents. Rather than make his home in the transit dependent 33rd District, Espada lives in leafy Mamaroneck, reports Marcia Kramer of CBS2:
April 21, 2009
With No Plan for Transit, the Next Fare Hike Is Just Around the Bend
If state legislators don't act to undo the outcome of today's MTA Board meeting, it would mark the second straight year that fares have gone up, which is already a departure from the norm. And it's going to get worse, say Gene Russianoff and the Straphangers Campaign:
March 25, 2009
Fare Hike Four Looking Out for Number One
If you're tracking the progress of MTA rescue talks, Jimmy Vielkind's Albany dispatches at the Politicker are a must-read. I had to highlight this exchange he had yesterday with Fare Hike Four member Pedro Espada, Jr., which pretty much sums up the current predicament:
March 18, 2009
Caption Contest: Re-name This Foursome
Hat tip to Liz Benjamin at the Daily Politics for this snapshot of four state senators who’ve helped concoct a stopgap, toll-less MTA funding plan that does nothing to address the imminent decline of New York’s transit system. Lest they be accused of completely shortchanging the future, they say maintenance and expansion can be taken … Continued
March 17, 2009