{"id":375114,"date":"2026-10-16T20:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T20:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/375114\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T20:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T20:36:08","slug":"suspicious-powder-sent-to-rep-ritchie-torres-bronx-office-in-latest-mail-scare-targeting-new-york-democratic-pols","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/375114\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspicious powder sent to Rep. Ritchie Torres\u2019 Bronx office in latest mail scare targeting New York Democratic pols"},"content":{"rendered":"

An envelope containing a suspicious substance prompted a hazardous materials response at U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres<\/a>\u2018 Bronx<\/a> district office Friday afternoon, after six people were reportedly exposed to the powder, the FDNY confirmed.<\/p>\n

The FDNY received a call at 1:23 p.m. on Oct. 16 reporting suspicious powder at 540 East Fordham Road, between Lorillard Place and Bathgate Avenue, and dispatched hazardous materials units to investigate.<\/p>\n

The substance was ultimately determined to be non-hazardous, and no injuries were reported, an FDNY spokesperson told amNewYork.\n<\/p>\n

Torres said his staff immediately notified the FBI, NYPD and FDNY after receiving the envelope. The congressman said the envelope was subsequently turned over to the FBI and that an investigation remains underway.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarlier today, my Congressional Office received an envelope containing a suspicious substance,\u201d Torres wrote in a statement posted to X.<\/a> \u201cMy team immediately notified the FBI, NYPD, and FDNY, all of which responded promptly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The congressman did not specify whether he was present when the envelope was discovered.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are living in a time when threats against elected officials and their staff have become the new normal,\u201d Torres said.\u00a0\u201cAlthough my team is understandably shaken by the incident, we will not be deterred from serving the people of NY-15 in the Bronx.\u201d<\/p>\n

FBI investigating suspicious mailings nationwide
\n\"USU.S. Rep. Ritchie TorresLev Radin\/Pacific Press via ZUMA Press Wire<\/p>\n

The incident came one day after suspicious mail was sent to New York\u2019s two U.S. senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, amid a broader federal investigation into similar mailings across the country.<\/p>\n

The Washington Post reported<\/a> Thursday that Schumer was among several senators whose offices were targeted with mail containing suspicious substances. Federal law enforcement officials had alerted lawmakers to the mailings, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Gillibrand\u2019s office separately confirmed that the U.S. Postal Inspection Service intercepted a suspicious piece of mail addressed to her New York City office on Thursday.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThis afternoon, a suspicious piece of mail was sent to my New York City office and was safely intercepted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service,\u201d Gillibrand said in a statement on Thursday. \u201cI am deeply grateful to the postal inspectors for protecting my staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PolicePolice outside the East Fordham Road office of U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres on Oct. 16, 2026, after aides were exposed to a suspicious powder sent through the mail.<\/p>\n

In a statement provided to amNewYork Friday, the FBI confirmed it was working with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to investigate a series of suspicious mailings nationwide, though the bureau declined to confirm whether the envelope received at Torres\u2019 office was among them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating a series of suspicious mailings sent to various addresses nationwide, including Secretary of State offices and their related election offices,\u201d the FBI\u2019s National Press Office said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the letters contained an unknown substance and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners to respond to each incident. We are also working with our partners to identify the individual or individuals responsible for the letters.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FBI said it was not confirming specific incidents or letters, leaving it unclear whether the envelope delivered to Torres\u2019 Bronx office was connected to the broader investigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An envelope containing a suspicious substance prompted a hazardous materials response at U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres\u2018 Bronx district…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[25924,5970,194,9,24,63,613,122,124,123,138008],"class_list":["post-375114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-bronx-rep-ritchie-torres","tag-fbi","tag-fdny","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-pm-newsletter","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-white-powder-investigation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}