Assemblyman and City Council hopeful Francisco Moya is defending himself from allegations he lied about his residency — saying the house in Corona, Queens he shares with his parents is his true home.
“This is my home. This is where I live. I’ve never hid from it,” Moya said Monday at the 46th Ave. house he co-owns with his father, Edgar.
Rival Hiram Monserrate — who is trying to make a comeback after being booted from the state Senate for domestic violence and doing jail time for corruption — last week slammed Moya for claiming two primary residences at once. He charged Moya really lives at the Long Island City luxury condo he bought in 2010, mocking his contention he still lives with his folks.
“He can say I live with mommy and daddy. I’m happy to be caring for my elderly parents,” Moya said. “At least my parents have a son that they can be proud of.”
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Moya showed a Daily News reporter around the two-story Corona home Monday to prove his bona fides, pointing out his Barcelona soccer gear, his hair products in the bathroom, and the contents of his stuffed sock drawer.
To get a federally-backed mortgage on the Long Island City condo, Moya agreed that he would live there for at least a year. Months later, he became co-owner of the family home and received a property tax exemption offered only for primary residences.
Moya said he never moved into the condo, and has rented it out except for a period when water damage made the unit uninhabitable. He supplied leases showing that as of last December, it was being rented for $1,700 a month, and reported between $5,000 and $20,000 in rental income on his financial disclosure form for last year.
As for the mortgage requirement, he provided a letter from Chase, which took over his mortgage from the Congressional Federal Credit Union, saying that the bank “has no objection to the renting or leasing of the property.”
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Moya, 43, said he decided to stay put at the family home in part because of his father’s failing health. His dad Edgar Moya, 77, has Parkinson’s disease.
Living in the Corona home also made him eligible for the Assembly seat he now holds — whereas the new condo was outside the district.
“Francisco’s been helping me a lot,” Edgar Moya said. “Family is number one for us. We all help each other. It’s his decision…I dislike the fact that this individual, who has no credibility, is making fun of that.”
Monserrate has filed a complaint with the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics asking for an investigation into Moya’s residences. His spokesman did not return a call Monday.
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The two pols are facing off in a Democratic primary next month for the Council seat now held by Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, who is not running for re-election.
Moya’s parents immigrated from Ecuador, and the family initially lived in the upstairs apartment of a relative’s home down the block, before buying their own home around 1980, he said.
“We’re a very close knit family. My cousins still live four houses down. My other cousins live across the street. My two best friends in life, we met in first grade, live down the block,” he said. “I’ve grown up here. I’ve lived here my entire life.”
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