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By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
New York City Congressman Ritchie Torres criticized Gov. Kathy Hochul for her “passive” stance on the open-air drug market, known as “The Hub” in the South Bronx. As reported by the NY Post, the area, which is a commercial zone situated between Melrose and Mott Haven avenues and includes Roberto Clemente Plaza, has become an oasis for drugs and junkies. The filthy conditions have been continuing and escalating, despite city officials’ ongoing years-long pledges to clean up.
Torres, the 36-year-old Democrat, made it clear in November that he is eyeing a run for NYS governor. He has served since 2021 as representative for New York’s 15th congressional district, which includes the South Bronx, and which is the poorest congressional district in the country based on median income. From 2013 to 2020, he had served as a member of the NYC Council for the 15th district, becoming the council’s youngest member.
Torres wrote a strongly worded letter to Gov. Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams that ripped them both for allowing “The Hub” to continue, and for New York’s bail reform laws. “The State’s do-nothing approach and the City’s ad-hoc approach has led to a game of whack-a-mole in which the NYPD temporarily removes the open-air drug market, only to see it re-emerge almost overnight.” Torres questioned why residents are “forced to see drug addicts injecting themselves with fentanyl in the presence of their children — all in broad daylight” and demanded that residents of the area be given “the same standard of public safety and quality of life as everyone else.” Torres said in the missive, “The Governor would never tolerate an open-air drug market outside of the governor’s mansion.”
City Hall and the NYPD have been unsuccessful in curbing the open-air drug market over the years. Per the Post, former Mayor Bill de Blasio had earmarked $8 million to fight the opioid epidemic in The Bronx. Mayor Adams, upon taking office, continued the efforts, launching what City Hall called a “comprehensive, multi-agency approach” against drug activity and associated problems in “The Hub”. City Hall even launched an enforcement sweep between October-to-November, cleaning up thousands of syringes, making dozens of arrests, and doling out overdose reversal kits. Still, progress did not come.
“What the Bronx needs is not a short-term band-aid but a long-term solution to the crisis in the Hub,” Torres wrote. “What we deserve and demand is not a temporary relocation of the drug users and dealers but a permanent removal of the open-air drug market itself, which has become a deepening rot at the commercial core of the South Bronx.”
Torres also pointed to bail reform laws, which have led to increasing recidivism.
“Criminals feel more emboldened than ever before to use and sell drugs out in the open, confident that the criminal justice system will never hold them accountable and keep releasing them back onto the streets,” the Bronx pol said. “The recidivists know the rules of the game and know how to game the broken system to break the rules.”
Gov. Hochul spokesman Avi Small commented to say: “Governor Hochul is committed to public safety which is why she fought to change the bail laws to give judges more discretion and crack down on repeat offenders, and will introduce legislation this year to fix involuntary commitment.”
