Rep. Ritchie Torres kicked off Women’s History Month by hosting House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and several other honorees for a fireside chat at the New York Botanical Garden on March 1.
Torres held a similar event in February for Black History Month with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whom Pelosi predicted will become the first Black House Speaker after this year’s midterm elections.
At the celebration, Pelosi outlined her groundbreaking journey from “housewife to House Speaker” — a powerful position second in line of succession to the president. She is now retiring from Congress after nearly 40 years representing San Francisco.
Many of the city and borough’s prominent women leaders turned out for the event, including Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, the first Black woman to serve in the role and City Council Speaker Julie Menin, the first Jewish speaker.
Also among the honorees were three prominent Bronx natives who are breaking new ground in their respective roles: City Council Chief of Staff Miguelina Camilo, the first woman and Latina to serve in the position; City Council Deputy Chief of Staff Simone A. Jones, who previously served under Council Member Kevin C. Riley; and Randi Martos, who is chief of staff for Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz.
Assembly Members Chantel Jackson, Landon Dais and Dinowitz attended, as did Council Member Justin Sanchez.
In Menin’s remarks, she called Pelosi a “role model and someone who’s carved the path.” She proudly touted the women-led City Council, which currently has 32 female members out of 51 total.
“I think to be a woman elected official … it’s really not easy,” Menin said. “People pick apart what you wear, what your hair looks like, what shoes you’re wearing, what you’re saying. It is just an absolutely unbelievable double standard.”
‘Matriarch of American politics’
In introducing Pelosi, Torres paid tribute to his mother, who raised him in South Bronx NYCHA housing.
“I deeply believe that our mothers and grandmothers are the bedrock of the Bronx, and the bedrock of America,” Torres said.
He described Pelosi as “the matriarch of American politics.” When she started in Congress in 1987, there were only 24 women out of 435 total members. Today, there are 96 female Democrats and 33 Republicans, figures that Pelosi said should still be higher.
Nonetheless, Torres said she helped pave the way for countless Americans in leadership. “If you’re a young woman, there is no ceiling on how high you can rise, because Speaker Pelosi has broken that ceiling,” he said.
Pelosi told the crowd that she was raised in a “fiercely patriotic” political family. Her father was a member of Congress and mayor of Baltimore. Her brother later held the same mayoral office, and her mother was active in Democratic party politics.
But despite those roots, Pelosi said becoming a mother was the key motivator for her to enter public office.
“What got me from the kitchen to the Congress was, being a mom of five, the fact that 1 in 5 children in America lives in poverty and goes to sleep hungry at night,” she said.
Pelosi said she has never lost sight of the mission to improve the lives of Americans. “When you know your why, if you know why you’re out there, you can take any punch they wanna throw.”
Torres said Trump’s presidency seems to bring out Pelosi’s fighting spirit, recalling the “iconic moment” when she ripped up Trump’s 2020 State of the Union speech.
Pelosi said she didn’t pre-plan that act. “It was planned by Donald Trump when he decided to give a speech that on every single page was a lie, was a misrepresentation.”
A lasting legacy
Before long, Pelosi’s stance against President Trump began to endanger her life as it had never been before.
Torres recalled the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, which was only his third day in Congress. As rioters stormed the Capitol building where Congress was set to certify Joe Biden the winner of the presidential election, Pelosi’s life was targeted by name.
Torres praised Pelosi for returning to the House floor late that night to certify Biden’s win. But she said she was horrified by the violence against police and Capitol workers and said many staff members, especially younger ones, were “traumatized.”
While politicians assume at least some level of risk, the trauma inflicted upon staff members was “unforgivable,” she said, adding that some did not return to their jobs.
Another horrific moment came in Oct. 2022, when an attacker, later identified as David DePape, went to Pelosi and her husband Paul’s home. DePape demanded to see the speaker, who was not home, and bludgeoned Paul with a hammer. DePape later said he believed that Pelosi and other Democrats were engaged in a conspiracy to steal the election from Trump.
DePape was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Torres described Trump’s second term as “much more vindictive, much more emboldened” than his first. But Pelosi said Democrats are capable of uniting the public around issues Americans care about, especially around lowering the cost of housing, healthcare and food.
Regardless of individual strong stances against Trump, the Democratic Party as a whole has been roundly criticized for seeming out of touch with regular Americans, weak on messaging and unable to win elections that should have easily gone in their favor.
This year, Pelosi said Democrats must, and will, win the 2026 midterms and see Jeffries elected the next Democratic House Speaker.
“Our resistance is hope,” she said. With Trump, “We have a real fight on our hands.”
Torres, who himself broke ground in 2013 as the youngest and first openly gay Afro-Latino New York City Council member, closed with a personal reflection on what it means to work under Pelosi.
“I have a vision of my future in which I’m speaking to my daughter or granddaughter and we’re reading a history book and we encounter the name of Nancy Pelosi. And I will tell my granddaughter I knew Nancy Pelosi and it was the honor of my life to be led by her, to be inspired by her, to be transformed by her leadership.”
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
