Published in the September 24, 2009 Edition

Espada Sits Down With Local Business Leaders

State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. (center) sits down with leaders of the Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement District at El Presidente on Saturday, Sept. 12. (Photo courtesy of State Senator Pedro Espada's office)

by MEGAN TAYLOR

State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. met with leaders of the Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement District (BID) on Saturday, Sept. 12 to discuss economic development opportunities and community needs.

“This is the first time in my 25 years of community experience that someone has come to ask what we need and how the government can help the community,” said BID secretary Dennis O’Brien, who owns A & O Surgical Supply on Gun Hill Road. “We are the first BID he’s talked to and I think the meeting went extremely well.”

Espada, now the Senate majority leader, has been meeting with several other local community organizations, including the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center and the Fordham Road BID, as he tries to figure out how to allocate nearly $2 million in discretionary funding earmarked for local initiatives.

The money was supposed to be doled out by the time the budget was signed in April, but Espada has had trouble finding appropriate funding opportunities. In the spring, Espada attempted to give the money to two brand new nonprofit groups created by two employees of the south Bronx health center network under the senator’s control. But Democratic leaders rebuffed that effort.

He then tried to give the bulk of the money to the Bronx Chamber of Commerce to be a fiscal conduit for a series of programs he wanted to fund. But the Chamber declined to accept it, saying they are not suited to being a fiscal conduit.

Espada has been a lightning rod for criticism since he re-entered the Senate in January and is currently under investigation by the Bronx district attorney and state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Espada says the investigations are politically motivated by Democratic rivals.

At the Saturday morning meeting at El Presidente, O’Brien said Espada and the Jerome-Gun Hill BID discussed neighborhood improvements like shopping areas and security cameras. Though the BID has been instrumental in keeping streets clean and removing graffiti, “we need more security cameras,” O’Brien said.

Ed. Note: Norwood News is published by Mosholu Preservation Corporation which manages the Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement District.

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Espada Sits Down With Local Business Leaders

by MEGAN TAYLOR

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