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Photo by: Eileen Markey
Lorraine Knox, 42, of Manhattan, was one of several dozen tenants and housing activists who crowded State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada’s Albany office Tuesday afternoon, demanding the Bronx Democrat resign.
Lorraine Knox, 42, of Manhattan, was one of several dozen tenants and housing activists who crowded State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada’s Albany office Tuesday afternoon, demanding the Bronx Democrat resign.
Knox, a member of Community Voices Heard held a giant eviction notice, which tenants attempted to deliver to Espada. “I came here to fight for tenants’ rights to have affordable housing, to keep Mitchell Lama and the Section 8,” Knox said. “I want Espada to step down. If he’s not going to do the job, step down.”
After occupying Espada’s office for 20 minutes, while the senator reportedly stayed in an inner office, the tenants chanted and rallied in the hall outside, on the fourth floor of the Capitol building.
They stomped and clapped, shouting “Na-na-na-na. Hey, hey, hey, good bye,” and “Hey, hey, ho-ho, Espada has got to go.” Some shouted, “You won’t come to the Bronx, so the Bronx comes to you,” referring to allegations that the state senator does not live in the district he represents, but in Westchester County.
Ramona Santana, a member of the NorthWest Bronx Community and Clergy Coaliton and a leader in her building’s tenant association, which is in Espada’s district said she wants Espada out because he doesn’t advocate for poor and working-class tenants. “I think he works for the landlords,” she said.