ALBANY — A prominent Senate Democrat blasted the son of turncoat Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. as “lazy and not so smart” yesterday as the Senate majority leader denied any quid pro quo got his namesake on the Senate payroll.
Pedro G. Espada, a former city councilman and state assemblyman, received a $120,000-a-year appointment as “deputy director of intergovernmental relations” barely a month after his father’s return restored Democratic control in the Senate chamber.
“He’s lazy and not so smart, so I don’t know why we need him in some kind of policy role in the state Senate,” the Senate Democrat said.
The Democrat said the elder Espada initially sought to hire his son as his own chief of staff.
“He was told, ‘You can’t do that. You can’t hire a family member,’ ” the source said. “So that’s how he became a central staffer. I guess this is how he came up with the compromise.”
Espada (D-Bronx), meanwhile, denied the hire was repayment for his July 9 return to the Democratic Conference, a move that ended a historic monthlong legislative stalemate.
“This is not the result of a quid pro quo or a contingency to my ending the Senate stalemate,” Espada said in a statement. “If my son did not qualify for this position, he would not have gotten the job.”