In a stunning display of poor timing and tone-deafness, Governor Kathy Hochul (D) took to social media Sunday to tout her administration’s efforts to improve subway safety—the very same day a woman was burned alive on a New York City subway train.
Posting on X (formerly Twitter), Hochul declared, “In March, I took action to make our subways safer for the millions of people who take the trains each day.” She went on to highlight deploying the National Guard to support the NYPD and MTA safety initiatives and installing cameras in all subway cars, claiming these measures were driving crime down and ridership up.
What horrific timing. https://t.co/E1xlVyOKPR
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 22, 2024
But reality painted a grimmer picture that day. A Guatemalan illegal immigrant, Sebastian Zapeta, reportedly set a sleeping woman on fire aboard an F Train, watching as she burned to death near the doors of the train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station. Shockingly, NYPD officers initially failed to apprehend Zapeta, telling him to leave the area, which allowed him to avoid capture until a vigilant civilian brought him to authorities’ attention. Tragically, first responders were unable to save the victim.
NEW: The man suspected of lighting a woman on fire on a New York City subway has been identified as Sebastian Zapeta.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 22, 2024
The man apparently sat on a bench and watched his victim burn.
Police, who clearly had no clue what was going on, reportedly told the man who is believed to… pic.twitter.com/dxYibgfncJ
This horrific incident underscores a pattern of chaos and unchecked violence in the city’s transit system, further spotlighted by another high-profile case on the F Train last year. In 2023, U.S. Marine Corps veteran Daniel Penny intervened when Jordan Neely, a homeless man with a history of over 40 arrests and an active warrant, began threatening to kill passengers. Penny’s restraint of Neely tragically resulted in his death, despite video evidence showing Penny placing Neely in a recovery position and waiting for police assistance.
Neely’s death became a flashpoint for political grandstanding. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg swiftly charged Penny with second-degree manslaughter, provoking widespread backlash. Penny was ultimately acquitted, but the case highlighted how city leaders often prioritize ideological narratives over addressing the root causes of public safety failures.
Governor Hochul’s poorly timed self-congratulatory post epitomizes the disconnection between Albany and the harsh realities faced by New Yorkers. Despite the governor’s optimistic claims, the subway system continues to wrestle with violent crime, overwhelmed law enforcement and a lack of proactive leadership.
For the millions of daily riders, the subway remains less a symbol of progress and more a battleground of the city’s deeper issues, but as tragedies like this one demonstrate, empty platitudes won’t extinguish the flames of chaos threatening New York’s transit system—or its people.
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All of this tragedy can be laid at the feet of Democratic leadership from Biden on down to the smallest of them.