The conviction of disgraced former state Sen. Pedro Espada reminded me of the closing scene of “White Heat” — when James Cagney, standing atop a fiery tower, shouts, “Made it, Ma! Top of the world!”
In a warped sense, Espada had made it to the top, if only to set the state Senate afire. Few who knew him could applaud his pyrotechnic high-wire act.
Throughout his public career, Pedro Espada has been a charismatic, attention-grabbing narcissist. As the self-styled people’s champion in the largely minority borough of The Bronx, he once posed in red boxing gloves in one campaign. In another, he rode a white horse as though he were El Cid.
Now consumed by the flames of his criminality and hubris, Espada still insists he was railroaded by the political establishment for being a powerful minority legislator. In reality, he was a political extortionist, who brazenly put relatives and cronies on the Senate payroll, while he looted his health-care organization.
Indicted, Espada sought to capitalize on the knee-jerk sympathy some feel when one of their “own” is under a glaring spotlight.
It’s hardly uncommon for some in the minority community to believe that the white establishment uses its power to slander and destroy minority politicians who threaten the status quo. We saw the idea rising during the high-profile corruption trials of Councilman Larry Seabrook and Assemblyman William Boyland — and as City Comptroller John Liu’s campaign came under scrutiny.
Brooklyn Councilwoman Tish James’ remark about the “invisible and permanent powers-that-be” trying to take down John Liu typifies that sentiment.
In any group, many close ranks because denial is less painful than shame. But in no way do blacks, Hispanics, Asians or Hasidic Jews condone misconduct or corruption.
The common denominator in all our public-corruption cases is neither race nor ethnicity; it is the intersection of greed, venality and office-holding. Alan Hevesi, Guy Velella, Brian McLaughlin, Anthony Seminerio, Vincent Leibell and Carl Kruger didn’t get special treatment.
Pedro Espada violated the public trust. He and his ilk share a pathological narcissism, believing that (despite being lawmakers) laws and rules don’t apply to them.
New Yorkers’ true champions, US Attorneys Preet Bharara and Loretta Lynch, are people of color who ensure that justice is color-blind. Bharara, perhaps, sums it up best: “When elected officials violate their oaths of office and betray their constituents by putting personal interests and enrichment above their duty as public servants, they will be brought to justice.”
Like Cagney’s gangster in “White Heat,” Pedro Espada finally got to the top of the world, and it blew up in his face.