If you haven’t done so already and you’re interested in Bronx politics, you need to read this article, written by Steve Fishman and published in New York Magazine two weeks ago, about former Bronx Assemblyman Nelson Castro. It delves into the beginning of Castro’s political career, how he got busted for perjury and how nobody in politics wants to talk to him. Compelling read that offers insight into the often shadowy world of the borough’s political scene. We urge you to read the whole thing, but in the meantime, here are some of the highlights:

— Before being chosen by then-Democratic County Committee Chairman Jose Rivera to run for the assembly, Castro’s political resume was thin. He often played up his time working for Adriano Espaillat, but the truth is that he only worked for Espaillat when he was an assemblyman (he’s now a state senator) for about six months. (The magazine story originally reported that it was two years, a common misperception, which Espaillat’s current team is quick to differ with.)

— Here’s him describing how his reaction to Rivera handing him the keys to the 86th Assembly District, courtesy of Fishman:

“I was the most surprised of anyone,” Castro says, adding, with only slight exaggeration, “he chose me out of a hat.”

— Rivera, of course, picked Castro over Hector Ramirez, a Democratic machine loyalist who Fishman describes as a “fireplug of a man with a shaved head and a highly imperfect grasp of English.” This was undoubtedly one of the decisions that precipitated the-now infamous “coup” of Rivera’s leadership faction at the Loew’s Paradise Theater, shortly after Castro prevailed in his primary over Mike Soto. The Castro call may have shorted Rivera’s reign of the Democratic party.

— Anonymous quote on Rivera pre-coup: “José Rivera had total control in the Bronx,” says one political leader. “He could say a dog or a cat should be elected to the Assembly, and it would be.”

(On a side note, Fishman quotes Rivera as telling Ramirez after the coup: “You motherfucker, I’m going to kill you” I talked to Rivera, who declined to be interviewed for the story, about this after the article came out and he told me he never said it, adding, “I respect everyone’s mothers.”

— Speaking of the Soto family. Fishman depicts them as the fly in the Bronx Democratic machine’s ointment. Mike’s brother Richard is the true political junkie of the family. His complaint to the DA’s office led to the perjury charges against Castro for lying in his testimony to the Board of Elections (which was perfectly happy to keep him on the ballot, despite his having listed nine people on his petition with the address where he shared a one-bedroom apartment with his girlfriend) , which led to his indictment, which led to Castro becoming a government informant for the DA and the US District Attorney, which led him to help the government set-up colleague Eric Stevenson on bribery charges, becoming the star witness in the government’s case against Stevenson and, ultimately, losing losing his job.

— Got that?

— On listing nine people’s address as the same as his own on the petition: “We didn’t think we were doing anything wrong,” Castro says. “Everybody does it.”

— On the perjury charges that were threatened unless he cooperated, in Fishman’s words: “In fact, the Bronx D.A. had never before prosecuted anyone for election fraud, according to a spokesperson.” (Really? Never?)

— Castro on his supposedly being “wired” all the time in Albany: “Elected officials are worried because they think, Oh, I wonder what I said to Nelson? Come on, man! You know me! I never asked anybody any suspicious questions or anything like that. I never did. We talked about women. We talked about, ‘Oh, this girl has a nice ass.’ I won’t lie about that. But basically I never tried to get any information from any of my colleagues.”

— Stevenson actually talks to Fishman for the article, although Fishman never quotes him or paraphrases him as saying he’s guilty or innocent of the bribery charges against him. But he does say this about his relationship with the Russian developers who allegedly paid him off: “They were thinking of a good reputable person, a name they could put on it [an adult day care center], for the community,” Stevenson tells me. “It’s good for me politically, and guess what? It gives a credit to my grandfather’s name, and it does good work for our community. Why not?”

— Among Castro’s skeletons Soto dug up, Fishman writes: Castro has “once been charged with grand larceny for collecting $4,950 in unemployment benefits while working part-time; in 2004 he pleaded to a misdemeanor and received three years’ probation. In March 2008, he was arrested for driving with a revoked license and for owing more than $3,000 in traffic tickets.”

— Line that makes me want to read more El Diario:

The leadership took little notice of him, and the press even less—except when El Diario ran a front-page story about his affair with his office manager. This affair resulted in a child.

— Fishman: Castro—a Seventh-Day Adventist who doesn’t drink or eat pork or shrimp, and keeps the Sabbath—explains, “I messed up with the sex part. You have to have some type of vice.” (This may explain the quote about his preferred topics of conversation with colleagues.)

— Worst line in the article: “Stevenson met the Russians at Jake’s Steakhouse, a power spot not far from Yankee Stadium.” (No! It’s several miles from Yankee Stadium! That’s like saying Empire State Building is close to Washington Heights!)

— Castro wanted to run for the office resigned from, but prosecutor squashed that idea. He’s now backing his own candidate, Keny Nunez, who’s described as “a Dominican-born attorney” and “a stand-in” for Castro.

— Saddest line, from Castro: “My relationships are burned in one second. Friends won’t even pick up the phone.”

Seriously, read this article.