Rangel-espaillat pits old & new pol bases

REDISTRICTING will come home to roost Tuesday as Manhattan-based pols clash for control of a congressional district that was redrawn this spring to include a chunk of the northwest Bronx.

Voters in University Heights, Bedford Park, Norwood, Kings- bridge Heights and Van Cortlandt Village will head to the polls for a Democratic primary in the new 13th Congressional District.

The Lion of Lenox Ave. — embattled Rep. Charlie Rangel of Harlem — faces several challengers, including state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, a Latino heavyweight from Washington Heights.

Rangel has represented up- town Manhattan for decades, but the 82-year-old is now on the hot seat due to a recent ethics scandal and a new district in which Latinos now outnumber blacks.

Espaillat, who currently represents part of Riverdale, has run an energetic campaign in Bronx neighborhoods home to many Dominican immigrants. He hopes to become the first Dominican-American in Congress.

Endorsed by two ex-Bronx borough presidents, Espaillat will stump for votes Tuesday at subway stations on Jerome Ave.

Rangel, endorsed by current Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., visited a Norwood community center and a Van Cortlandt Village senior center Monday with Rep. Eliot Engel, who faces his own primary battle.

Pelham Bay lawyer Aniello Grimaldi, a former schoolteacher and Bronx assistant district attorney, is running against Engel in the new 16th Congressional District on a platform that includes the establishment of a federal Department of Peace.

The district includes Riverdale, Wakefield and Williamsbridge in the Bronx, and lower Westchester County.