Northeast
New York Gov. Hochul fuels hate crime speculation in transgender slaying; state police find 'no indication'
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul fueled hate crime speculation in the slaying of a 24-year-old transgender victim, as the district attorney’s office and state police said there was “no indication” of such a motive.
“I have directed State Police to provide any and all support and resources to the District Attorney as they continue their investigation, including into whether this was a hate crime,” Hochul wrote in a Sunday statement.
Hochul’s post came the same day as a joint statement from the New York State Police and the Ontario County District Attorney. New York State Police said it found the remains of 24-year-old Sam Nordquist on Friday in Yates County.
“At this time we have no indication that Sam’s murder was a hate crime,” the Ontario County’s District Attorney’s office and the New York State Police said Sunday in a joint release. “To help alleviate the understandable concern his murder could be a hate crime, we are disclosing that Sam and his assailants were known to each other, identified as LGBTQ+, and at least one of the defendants lived with Sam in the time period leading up to the instant offense.”
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Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks about gun violence in the United States during the Clinton Global Initiative on Sept. 23, 2024, in New York City. (Getty Images)
Criminal histories
Authorities said Precious Arzuaga, 38; Jennifer A. Quijano, 30; Kyle Sage, 33; Patrick A. Goodwin, 30; and Emily Motyka, 19, had all been arrested and charged with second-degree murder with depraved indifference, the New York State Police said.
Records, reviewed by Fox News Digital, revealed that three of the five suspects had criminal histories – spanning from child sex crimes to theft.
Patrick A Goodwin, Emily Motyka and Jennifer A. Quijano were arrested in connection to the February murder of 24-year-old Sam Nordquist. (New York State Police)
Arzuaga has four misdemeanor convictions, including petty larceny, criminal trespass and the sale of an imitation control substance.
Sage was convicted of larceny and disseminating indecent material to a minor. New York state records revealed that he was on parole when arrested after being released from prison on May 30, 2024.
Goodwin was convicted of child sex crimes in 2015, and is a registered Level 3 sex offender, records show. Goodwin was convicted by the Ontario County Sheriffs Office for Criminal Sexual Act-1st Degree, with the victim being under 11 years old.
He was sent to prison in 2015 for 10.5 years. According to New York State records, Goodwin was released and placed on parole on June 6, 2023.
A search of the state corrections system did not reveal any information regarding Arzuago, Quijano and Motyka.
Precious Arzuaga and Kyle Sage were arrested in connection to the February murder of 24-year-old Sam Nordquist. (New York State Police)
A hate crime in New York is defined in Penal Law Section 485.05 as an offense committed “in whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct.”
Retired New York Police Department inspector Paul Mauro told Fox News Digital that short of new evidence, this case will be charged as a regular murder case.
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“Now with transgenderism as a protected hate crime class, in a very blue state, you can rest assured that if they were in any way, shape or form capable of bringing this as a hate crime, they would,” he said. “They don’t want the blowback of saying they’re ignoring a hate crime, but they’re not doing that, so they mustn’t have that. It is possible they could gather more evidence.”
Sam Norquist, whose remains were found in a field in upstate New York last week. (New York State Police)
‘Beyond depraved’
Police said members of Norquist’s family were last in touch at the end of January. Authorities launched a missing person investigation last week after receiving a welfare check request from the family.
Police found Nordquist’s body on Thursday, Feb. 15, in a Yates County, New York, field.
Police believe Nordquist endured prolonged physical and psychological abuse and repeated acts of violence and torture between early December and early February.
“In my 20-year law enforcement career, this is one of the most horrific crimes I have ever investigated,” Capt. Kelly Swift of the State Police’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation said at a news conference on Friday.
“The facts and the circumstances of this crime are beyond depraved,” added James Ritts, the district attorney of Ontario County.
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Hochul on Sunday called Nordquist’s slaying “horrific and brutal.”
“The charges against these individuals are sickening and all New Yorkers should join together to condemn this horrific act. We are praying for Sam Nordquist’s family, community and loved ones who are experiencing unimaginable grief,” the governor said.
Sam Nordquist was allegedly tortured for more than a month inside a motel until he died. (GoFundMe)
Hochul’s office said the governor is committed to providing a safe community for all people.
“We remain focused on holding these individuals accountable and will continue to work tirelessly to complete the investigation into Sam’s murder,” her office said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Hochul’s office for comment.
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Along the Park
Dear Diary:
It was April Fools’ Day, and the weather kept changing from sunny to drizzle, as if the gusty wind was moving the sun back and forth behind a cloud.
I put my jacket on and off as I walked along Prospect Park. The trees were still bare, but spring was slowly awakening with yellow forsythias, and every child walking by stared at my new purple hair, hungry for color.
A guy in the bike lane yelled, “Hey!”
I turned to him.
“Sorry,” he said, pointing to someone else. “I’m talking to this guy.”
“But you actually look familiar,” I said.
“So do you,” he said, laughing.
I entered the park to hear pop music near the band shell. Two people with a portable speaker were dancing.
I wanted to join the party, but I realized that I hear the music, so I’m in the party. I danced along from a distance.
From high above, hundreds of blackbirds swooped down like falling peppercorn into the black-and-white woods ahead. As I got closer, I saw specks of tiny green buds emerging on each tree limb.
I left the park, passing three people who had converged because their dogs could not contain their joy. The people laughed like old friends, but within seconds they had walked off separate ways.
As I passed Seeley Street, I overheard a friend through the open window, cheering on a drum student.
I laughed. I should be getting home before the possible rain, I thought, but today, everywhere was home.
— Mare Berger
S. Klein’s Basement
Dear Diary:
It was around 1960, and my mother, my sister and I were in the bargain basement at the S. Klein department store on Union Square.
My sister, 13, was trying on winter coats in the aisle between the bins and discussing two final options with my mother when a woman riding the escalator up to the ground floor weighed in.
“Take the red!” she called out.
We took the red. I miss S. Klein’s.
— David Hammond
Brooklyn Warehouse
Dear Diary:
I woke up to my alarm at 2:45 on a Saturday morning, then maneuvered trains and city blocks through darkness to an unremarkable warehouse in Brooklyn.
Inside was a cathedral of music. Hips gyrated, and arms exalted rhythm. Fog embraced kissers, dancers, exhilaration, prayer, meditation, community.
I found my intention and connected with my spirit and the energy of bodies around me, alone and together, holding friends as family and strangers as friends.
I departed at 8:45 a.m. to a cold, golden morning, feeling lighter, freer, learned and loved.
A shopkeeper opening up for the day called out from behind me, his question nearly drowned out by the morning traffic.
“Hey, what’s happening over there?” he asked.
“Just a little dance party,” I replied. “Nothing crazy.”
— Carlie Cattelona
Helping Hand
Dear Diary:
I ride my bicycle 99 percent of the time. It’s just me and the city. I move fast enough to keep things interesting, but slowly enough to catch the weather changing or feel the mood of the people on the sidewalks.
Every so often, I have to take the train. On very rare occasions, it’s me, the train and my bike, a combination no one ever seems thrilled to encounter.
Because I know this, I try to shrink myself into an apologetic bicycle origami project once I’m on the train. I fold. I hover. I whisper “sorry” to people who haven’t even seen me yet.
On one such evening, I was trying to avoid anyone’s shins while hauling my bike up a flight of stairs after getting off the train, when I felt someone close behind me.
Terrified that I’d clipped someone, I whipped around to see a smiling woman who had one hand casually gripping the back of my bike.
“I got you,” she said, like we were old friends moving a couch.
I told her I had it under control.
“Two hands are better than one,” she said. “I got you.”
So we climbed the stairs together: me, my bike and a total stranger, moving in perfect, unspoken coordination. At the top, she let go, nodded and vanished into the crowd.
— Evan Abel
Central Park Zoo
Dear Diary:
Years ago, our nanny would take our son and daughter to the Central Park Zoo, where they could be set free from their stroller.
It was safe because the children loved the zoo and always stayed in the nanny’s sight and because the zoo’s walls meant there was no way they could leave.
One spring day when I was not working, I decided to accompany them all on a walk through the park, with the kids in their stroller.
As we passed the zoo, a guard at the entrance beckoned our nanny over and had a deep consultation with her.
She was laughing when she came back.
“He wanted to know who was that strange woman walking with me,” she said.
— Georgia Raysman
Read all recent entries and our submissions guidelines. Reach us via email diary@nytimes.com or follow @NYTMetro on Twitter.
Illustrations by Agnes Lee
Employees at the Institute of Contemporary Art / Boston are gearing up for contract negotiations with the Seaport museum after quietly opting to unionize last month.
Just over 90 employees, in roles ranging from visitor services to development to curation, are now being represented by the UAW Local 2110, a New York-based union, as they prepare to go to the bargaining table, seeking better pay and other job protections.
The ICA voluntarily recognized the union shortly after the workers went to museum leadership in early April, said Maida Rosenstein, UAW Local 2110’s director of organizing. That meant the employees could sidestep a formal election through the National Labor Relations Board and instead conduct a card-counting process.
“That all happened quite quickly,” said Rosenstein.
“Our experience with getting voluntary recognition was that the ICA was reasonable about the process,” she added. “So hopefully that will continue through the bargaining process.”
The next step, Rosenstein said, is for the workers to elect a bargaining committee from among their ranks, and then draw up some specific proposals. “We’re hopeful of being able to be negotiating this summer,” she said.
In a statement, the ICA’s director, Nora Burnett Abrams, who stepped into the top job last May, noted that “our exceptional staff are at the heart of what makes the museum so special.”
“We are voluntarily recognizing our employees’ choice to be represented by a union and view the decision to organize as an expression of their deep dedication to the institution,” Burnett Abrams said. “We look forward to working collaboratively and in good faith with Local UAW 2110 toward a collective agreement.”
The ICA is just the latest local institution to see labor action among its workforce. UAW Local 2110 also represents employees at the MFA Boston, who voted to unionize in 2020 and secured compensation increases and other benefit improvements when they ratified their first contract in 2022. Workers at MASS MoCa in North Adams, the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, and the Portland Museum of Art in Maine are also represented by UAW Local 2110.
Carter Seggev, a 28-year-old events coordinator at the museum, said seeing the MFA go through its own unionization process served as something of a blueprint for the ICA workers.
“It has been a very helpful beginner example, to sort of be like, ‘Oh, yeah, they can do it,’ and especially that scale,” he said.
Rosenstein said a chief concern among workers is improving pay, which is currently “very slightly above minimum wage at the entry level,” she said. Other concerns include protections against layoffs and other “health and safety” provisions, such as adequate rest and seating for visitor-facing employees.
For Seggev, who earns $50,000 a year at the museum, better pay is only one piece of the puzzle. He wants more transparency from museum leadership into policy decisions — and a greater say in the institution’s future.
“I like the ICA a lot. It’s a fun workplace, and I would love to have more of a voice in making sure that everyone is being considered and everyone’s needs are being taken into account,” he said. “For me personally, that’s been the biggest driving force.”
He added that, since workers went public with their organizing efforts, he’s been happy with leadership’s willingness to talk with workers about their aims. He was also encouraged by the museum’s voluntary recognition of the union.
“I know that is a very rare thing, and so far, the communication has been very positive,” he said. “I think everyone’s sort of looking forward to working together to make the ICA better.”
The ICA, which has been housed in a gleaming glass building perched on the waterfront since 2006, had an operating surplus of about $800,000 in the fiscal year that ended in June 2025, according to its latest publicly released financial statements. That was up more than a quarter-million dollars from the previous year.
Dana Gerber can be reached at dana.gerber@globe.com. Follow her @danagerber6.
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