Already?? Trouble For Pride Agenda's First 2010 NY Senate Pick

Yesterday the Empire State Pride Agenda announced their endorsement of NY Assemblyman Jose Peralta in his bid to unseat NY Sen. Hiram Monserrate, who stunned activists with his betrayal on marriage last week. But today we learn that Peralta may not be a squeaky-clean choice. Via NY Daily News:

Queens Assemblyman Jose Peralta landed more than $500,000 in taxpayer money for a nonprofit that never filed federal tax records, has no employees and has been inactive for more than two years. Peralta helped organize the Corona-Elmhurst Center for Economic Development after joining the Legislature, and for years it was located in the same building as his campaign office. This year, he and his chief political consultants have continued to lobby state and city lawmakers for additional grants for the dormant group, the Daily News has learned. Until a month ago, the Corona-Elmhurst group maintained an office at 104-01 Roosevelt Ave., in a two-story commercial building, where Peralta rents space for his election committee. The building is owned by Dr. Mercedes Mota-Martinez, a dentist who runs a clinic on the building's upper floor and who also employs Peralta's mother, Rosa Hernandez, as an office manager.

Well, that doesn't look good, does it? There's more to the story and Peralta may be in the clear here, but so far this gets a big "uh-oh."

In related news. today Peralta slammed Monserrate as "a liar and and abuser," referring to Monserrate's recent conviction for slashing his girlfriend's face with a broken glass.

Assemblyman Jose Peralta has unleashed his harshest criticism of his primary opponent, Sen. Hiram Monserrate, to date, calling his fellow Queens Democrat "a liar and an abuser." Peralta's attack came in response to Monserrate's appearance on NY1's "The Road to City Hall" last night - his first one-on-one interview since he was sentenced last week following his conviction in October on a misdemeanor charge of assaulting his girlfriend, Karla Giraldo. Peralta said he was "appalled and disgusted by what I heard and saw.

The Daily News' reliable Elizabeth Benjamin notes: "It's interesting that the assemblyman has chosen to ratchet up his criticism of his target on the same day the DN's Juan Gonzalez reported Peralta has directed some $500,000 worth of taxpayer funds to a nonprofit of dubious standing to which he has a personal connection."

Yup, that's interesting.