A lawmaker at the center of political turmoil in the state capital opened his Bronx apartment to a reporter in an attempt to show that he actually lives in his district.
Prosecutors are probing allegations that Sen. Pedro Espada really lives in the suburbs and not in the Bronx co-op he has owned since 2007.
Espada gave the Daily News a tour of the pad, showing off family photos hung on the walls as evidence he calls the place home.
Some neighbors tell the paper, though, that they rarely saw Espada in the building and that he arrived Thursday night with a load of belongings and several bags.
"I've never seen him in the building before," a longtime neighbor told the Daily News. "To my knowledge, this could be the first time he slept in the building."
Espada, the dissident Democrat who claimed the disputed title of Senate president in a Republican-led coup, swears that's not true.
"I didn't pay $250,000 to have a sham address," he said.
Unfortunately for Espada, the Bronx district attorney thinks maybe he did. The pol, who admits he's owned a house in suburban Mamaroneck for more than a decade, is under investigation by the prosecutor over where he lives (or doesn't.)
Last year, Espada won a legal challenge over whether the Bronx was his legitimate home. The allegation caused him major problems throughout his campaign, however.
Espada flippantly dismissed his neighbors' latest comments about never seeing him around.
"I'm lucky if I see somebody," he shrugged. "I'm in Albany four to five days a week since January."
