NEW YORK – Tali Farhadian Weinstein, candidate for Manhattan District Attorney, announced the endorsement of Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15), the first openly LGBTQ elected official to represent The Bronx and the first openly-gay Afro-Latino elected to Congress.
“Tali’s north star has always been to protect vulnerable communities, a commitment I admire in her and have strived toward myself since first elected to the City Council. We have both tried to use our power and position across our careers to fight for equal access to justice and opportunity,” said Congressman Torres. “I’m inspired by her leadership in Brooklyn, where she led the design of the nation’s first Post-Conviction Justice Bureau and implemented other productive and effective criminal justice reforms, and I look forward to her bringing her leadership and experiences to Manhattan. I am excited to see a woman and an immigrant serve as Manhattan’s top prosecutor and to set the national example there, and I enthusiastically endorse Tali Farhadian Weinstein for Manhattan District Attorney.”
“I have long admired Congressman Torres — his moral compass, his integrity, and his absolute commitment to New Yorkers in need, from his work advocating for fair housing to his demands for equal justice to more,” said Tali Farhadian Weinstein. “His voice was a critical one in local government for so long, as it will be in Congress and on the national stage. I am grateful for his example, and honored to have his endorsement.”
Most recently, Congressman Torres joined Tali for the season finale of her podcast, Hearing. Together, they discuss how lived experiences can be a source of wisdom and the values that animate public service, sharing personal stories of what it means to feel vulnerable, bringing a sense of empathy, sensitivity, and nuance to their shared vision for fairness and safety.
An experienced prosecutor, Tali is the former General Counsel to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonazlez, and during the Obama Administration she served as Counsel to former US Attorney General Eric Holder and as an Assistant US District Attorney for the Eastern District under then-US Attorney Loretta Lynch d. Torres served as the New York City Council Member for the 15th District from 2014 until 2020 when he was elected to Congress.
Rep. Ritchie Torres represents New York’s 15th Congressional District, which encompasses parts of the West Bronx and the South Bronx. It is consistently one of the most Democratic districts in the nation. Prior to being elected to Congress, Torres served six years on the City Council as the youngest elected city official. A former New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) resident himself, Torres was instrumental in making public housing living conditions a priority. He secured millions of dollars in funding for public housing, was central in exposing the city’s failure to address lead paint contamination, and expanded legal aid to NYCHA tenants facing eviction. Rep. Torres also advocated for programs to address racially concentrated poverty and is a staunch proponent of police reform, saying increased accountability and independent oversight are necessary to ending police brutality.
Tali also is endorsed by US Attorney General Eric Holder and former NAACP president Ben Jealous and received the personal endorsement of Jackie Rowe-Adams, co-founder of Harlem Mothers S.A.V.E.
Tali most recently served as General Counsel to Brooklyn DA Gonzalez, where she directed complex litigation, managed multiple bureaus and led the creation of the Post-Conviction Justice Bureau – including the Conviction Review Unit that serves as a national model and recently published a ground-breaking report reckoning with wrongful convictions. During the Obama Administration, she was Counsel for Attorney General Holder, working directly with him against unnecessarily long sentences, better court defenses for the economically disadvantaged and more fairness for non-citizens. As an Assistant US Attorney for New York’s Eastern District under then-US Attorney, and later Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Tali prosecuted gun crimes, murders, tax fraud and evasion, public corruption, and national security cases. A graduate of Yale College, Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, and Yale Law School, Tali began her career as a Law Clerk for incoming US Attorney General nominee Merrick B. Garland and for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
