A group of housing advocates who tried to attend a “town hall meeting” held by State Senator Pedro Espada say they were physically barred from entering the building, according to two people who attempted to join the meeting.

The event was held at the Davidson Community Center on May 19, and was an opportunity for Espada to explain a rent bill he’s sponsoring, according to a press release. Videos sent with the release show the senator talking about the bill, discussing charter schools and answering questions from the crowd.

But the group says they didn’t get to ask their questions — because they weren’t allowed inside. One woman, who asked that her name not be used for fear of retribution, said she was pushed away and had her hand ripped from the door when she tried to enter the building. The man blocking her entrance told her to “get the hell out” of there, she said.

The woman said Espada’s staffers recognized her from some of the senator’s previous rallies, which she had attended to protest his controversial rent freeze bill — legislation Espada has been pushing for months that would freeze rent prices for some New Yorkers but that tenant advocates claim is pro-landlord legislation in disguise.

Mayor Bloomberg recently sent a memorandum to the State Senate saying Espada’s rent freeze bill was unfeasible.

Michael Leonard, a local resident and self-described activist, says he was also stopped outside and told by a man in a suit that he wasn’t welcome there. He believes he was banned for picking up a flier from a protester who was outside the community center, he said.

“In my view, this was not a ‘town hall’ meeting or any sort of viable community forum,” Leonard said. “This was a pep rally for Espada.”

A spokesman from Espada’s office said the meeting was open to the public, with mailers being sent to addresses throughout the district. Some people were asked not to come inside because they were holding signs and chanting and would disrupt the purpose of the event, according to the spokesman, who denied that anyone was physically removed or blocked.

Five people were banned from the meeting, the woman said. The group then set up shop on the curb and handed out fliers about Espada’s housing bill to people passing by. According to the woman, Espada’s staffers took the fliers out of passersby’s hands and tore them up.

It’s not the first time there’s been a confrontation at an Espada event. Back in 2008, blogger and well-known City Hall gadfly Rafael Martínez Alequín got into a scuffle with Espada staffers at a campaign rally. Martínez Alequín was filming and asking questions, he said, when Espada’s son Alejandro pushed him and broke his camera. A court ordered Alejandro to pay for damages to Martinez Alequín’s camera.

Last week, dozens of Bronx activists took a bus up to Espada’s home in Mamaroneck to demand that the senator, who is head of the Housing Committee, take action on a number of pro-tenant housing bills already passed by the assembly.

“Espada’s rent-freeze bill is bootleg, not working for tenants, working more for landlords,” said Carlea Griffith, one of the protesters. “Espada wouldn’t come to us, so we came to him. We are his constituents.”

Espada says he is still considering some of the legislation passed by the assembly, including a repeal of vacancy decontrol, but he remains committed to his rent-freeze bill.

—additional reporting by Gina Ciliberto