At a press conference this afternoon, Mayor Bloomberg says he's received "disturbing" reports about polling places opening two to four hours late this morning, leaving many voters unable to participate in our glorious new experiment with participatory democracy through technology. Calling the situation a "royal screw-up," the mayor said: more ›

It's almost like state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. is trying to piss people off. Less than a year after he helped kill the plan for East River bridge tolls and claimed the idea was "fundamentally wrong," the Democratic majority leader says he would like to revive East River Bridge tolls as a way to generate revenue for the cash-strapped MTA. more ›

Remember State Sen. Pedro Espada — the embattled Bronx Democrat who put Republicans in power when he shifted party affiliation? Remember "Napoleon Dynamite" — the movie that wasn't nearly as funny as people thought it was? Well now you can have a tee-shirt that will forever link the two. more ›

On Tuesday, when "Bronxchester" Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. got caught blocking a fire hydrant with an illegal police parking placard, we took the opportunity to wonder what the hell was happening with the long-simmering investigation into how Espada runs his non-profit. Well, we don't want to take all the credit, but on the very next day Attorney General Andrew Cuomo finally subpoenaed Espada—after launching the investigation nine months ago. Good probes take time? Naturally Espada says this is just a political attack. more ›

More ammo for American climate change illiterates: weather experts say this may be the coldest NYC winter in almost 30 years. "It'll be like the great winters of the '60s and '70s," meteorologist Joe Bastardi told the Daily News. Great. Exactly. more ›

Two days after a second devastating fire destroyed several businesses in the Norwood section of The Bronx, a Mercedes Benz registered to controversial State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. was observed illegally parked in front of a fire hydrant with a Police Vehicle Identification placard in the window. The Benz was noticed by Boogie Downer, whose photos were then picked up by the permanently galled Uncivil Servants blog (which specializes in photos of parking placard abuse). Police parking permits are not typically issued to legislators, and parking at a hydrant is illegal at all times, even for those with official permits. more ›

You know you must be pretty sleazy when your behavior makes State Senate scofflaw Pedro Espada, Jr. blush. Yesterday the esteemed Senator from Bronxchester abruptly fired his deputy chief of staff, Onix A. Sosa, after the Times confronted him about Sosa's past work managing 35 buildings in upper Manhattan and the Bronx with close to 7,400 unresolved violations, including 1,100 deemed immediately hazardous. That kind of thing doesn't fly in Espada's office, at least not once the press catches wind of it. In a statement, Espada said, "I was shocked and, quite frankly, blindsided by this revelation." more ›

A son of state Senator Pedro Espada Jr. has pleaded guilty to harassment against 76-year-old blogger Rafael Martínez Alequin at a campaign rally last September. According to Martínez Alequin, several people, including Alejandro, began shoving him and trying to grab his camera as he approached Espada. And when he begged Pedro to call off his son, he answered, "He's trying to teach you manners papa. He's trying to teach you manners." (Here's video.) Alejandro, who's the director of one of his father's controversial health clinics, agreed to a restraining order and must pay $432 for the broken camera. But Martínez Alequin wants a stiffer punishment and tells the Daily News, "I was attacked because I was asking questions. I asked [Sen. Espada] to stop [his son]. I said they were hurting me. I was traumatized and I fear for my life." In other Espada dynasty news, our new state Senate Majority Leader is getting "dramatically" larger office space! Espada's spokesman tells the Post, "We have more responsibilities so we'll have more employees and we need more space." As Martinez Alequin can tell you, Espada really needs his space. more ›