New York Governor Kathy Hochul has faced a barrage of criticism on social media platforms following her recent assertion that the New York City subway system has become safer under her leadership.
This claim was made mere hours after a woman was tragically burned alive on a subway train.
According to Fox News, Governor Hochul made a statement on Sunday, boasting about the decline in crime rates on New York City's subway system since she mobilized the National Guard in March. She had previously dispatched 750 National Guard members to the subway system in an attempt to mitigate crime during the holiday season. "In March, I took action to make our subways safer for the millions of people who take the trains each day," Hochul stated. "Since deploying the @NationalGuardNY to support @NYPDnews and @MTA safety efforts and adding cameras to all subway cars, crime is going down, and ridership is going up."
However, the timing of Hochul's post was unfortunate, as it was published approximately eight hours after a Guatemalan immigrant allegedly set a woman ablaze, leading to her death on a Brooklyn F train. The gruesome incident had already been widely reported by the time the governor's post was made public.
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) reported that the horrifying incident occurred around 7:30 a.m. at the Stillwell Avenue station. In response to Hochul's tweet, several social media users shared graphic footage of the incident. The tweet also briefly had a community note attached to it, which referenced the killing.
Melissa DeRosa, former secretary under ex-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, criticized Hochul's post, pointing out that another individual had been killed. "2 people were murdered in the subway today," DeRosa wrote. "The governor of the state of NY is a tourist who cant even bother to read a newspaper while shes in town."
The advocacy group AntiSemitism also took issue with the governor's communications team, suggesting that Hochul "need[s] a new social media team." Lori Mills, the vice chair of the Ventura County Republican Party, also responded to the ill-timed tweet, stating bluntly to Hochul, "You must have missed todays news."
The person of interest in the subway incident was identified to Fox News Digital as 33-year-old Sebastin Zapeta, who reportedly entered the U.S. from Guatemala about a year ago. However, it remains unclear whether his entry was legal or illegal.
Fox News Digital has contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further information on Zapeta and has also reached out to Governor Hochul's office for comment, but has yet to receive a response.
This report includes contributions from Fox News Digital's Greg Wehner.
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