Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., questions witnesses during a hearing of a special House committee dedicated to countering China, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) lit into his state’s Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul (D) on Sunday afternoon, asking if there had ever been a “more tone-deaf” leader in the state’s history.
Torres fumed over Hochul posting to Instagram that “crime is down” in the New York City subway system the same day a woman was burned to death on a train.
“Two hours ago, Kathy Hochul took a victory lap for making subways “safer.” She congratulates herself on the same day two subway riders were stabbed in Queens (one in the face and one in the chest) and another was barbarically burned alive,” Torres wrote on X, while sharing Hochul’s self-congratulatory post about lowering crime.
“Has there ever been a more tone-deaf Governor in the history of New York?” added the Bronx-area congressman.
NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the subway killing as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being.”
The BBC reported on Monday that an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala “Sebastian Zapeta, 33, was charged with first and second-degree murder as well as arson on Monday over the attack.” The report added that “Tisch said the woman was on a stationary F train in Brooklyn when she was approached by a man who used a lighter to ignite her clothing – which became “fully engulfed in a matter of seconds”. Although officers extinguished the flames, the victim died at the scene.”
Torres has become a fierce critic of Hochul in recent weeks. In late November he posted to X, “Kathy Hochul is the new Joe Biden.” “She may be in denial about the depth of her vulnerabilities as a Democratic nominee. A Democratic incumbent who is less popular in New York than Donald Trump is in grave danger of losing to a Republican in 2026–an outcome not seen in 30 years. Waiting until it’s too late gave us a Republican President in 2024 and could give us a Republican Governor in 2026,” he added. Politico reported at the time that Torres appears to be gearing up to challenge her in the party’s primary as Hochul seeks reelection in two years.
