POLITICAL ARENA

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Got a neighborhood problem? Tweet your local pol.

After a Riverdale blogger communicated via Twitter with state Sen. Adriano Espaillat about the disrepair of the pedestrian bridge over the Henry Hudson Parkway at West 235th Street, the Department of Transportation started fixing it. 

The blogger who runs www.nomablogger.wordpress.com (yes, NoMa) wrote about the wear and tear of the well-used pedestrian bridge at the end of March. The blogger wrote that he or she had contacted the DOT, but received no response. Then, on April 16, the blogger sent Mr. Espaillat a tweet about the dilapidated walkway and the state senator responded, “Getting right on it!”

And he did. On April 26, Mr. Espaillat and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz sent out a joint press release cheering the quick action of the DOT, which started working on the bridge on April 25. Mr. Dinowitz also posted comments on the blog, including an update when work had actually begun. 

The bridge is currently passable, but under construction.

“In the world of social media, there is all this talk about ROI (return on investment) and how we measure social media’s influence. Today, it was nice to see a direct action as a result of a tweet. Props to Senator Espaillat for using social media to connect with his constituents. Brilliant social media marketing,” wrote the blogger.

Mr. Espaillat’s Deputy Chief of Staff Ibrahim Khan said the senator sometimes has a problem with the 140-character limit on tweets because he likes to write a lot more, but staffers help him out. He tweets almost every day, with links to press releases as well as stances on issues. Recent messages were about rent regulations, the pedestrian bridge and there was one applauding the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Here are a few of his tweets from last month:

“Beyond budget: Let’s focus on extending and strengthening rent regulations NOW!”

“Just finished mtg w/ @NYGovCuomo where he reiterated commitment to strengthen rent regulations. Now let’s get this thing done!”