While the chances of prosecuting a former (or now current) United States president again remains slim, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg hopes his next term – which he won earlier this month after taking on two challengers, looks much like his first.
“We want to lean into the things that have worked very well in term one,” Bragg told the AmNews in an interview over Zoom. “Shootings down about 65% in Manhattan, homicides almost down 50% — so we want to continue that important work that is urgent. We give that primacy, and so we’ll continue to do what we’ve done on guns. We’ve done a number of things on sexual violence [and] domestic violence. We want to continue that work.
“In the last couple of months, [we have been] really leaning into our docket on wage theft and housing — units that were started a couple years ago that have been doing important work. Some of these cases take time to develop. We see the fruits of the investments coming to bear. We can expect more of that, and then really, really leaning into mental health issues.”
In a quiet race, Bragg ran away with more than 70% of the vote under the Democratic and Working Families’ party banners against Republican Maud Maron and third-party candidate Diana Florence on Nov. 5.
He believes the ballot box provides a more accurate gauge for job performance. Since entering office, Bragg became a foil for conservative media who maligned his alternatives-to-incarceration strategies as soft-on-crime. His victory continues the trend of stability for the seat.
Since taking office in 2022, after his landmark victory as the first-ever Black Manhattan District Attorney, the Harlem-born Bragg prioritized combating gun violence, gender-based violence, and hate crimes. Over the years, he built a foundation toward both cracking down and preventing them.
Bragg boasts regular reductions in gun violence, notably in Harlem this past summer. He’s consistently pointed to taking down criminal syndicates while addressing homemade “ghost gun” production and investing in youth programs located in higher-risk areas.
OP-ED: Gun violence declines came through strategic planning and community focus, says Manhattan D.A.
This past August, Bragg penned an op-ed in the New York Daily News about preventing and prosecuting rapes beyond high-profile incidents involving celebrities or sensational narratives. In response, he pointed to putting resources towards a specialized division and helping survivors, even if they don’t ultimately come forward pressing charges.
In his first year in office, Bragg launched the “ Pathways to Public Safety” division to assess which cases the office can potentially divert. His peer navigator programs deploy outreach workers with similar lived experiences to the streets and arraignment parts, engaging people with those dealing with addiction, mental health conditions, homelessness, or criminal justice involvement to connect them with the proper services and programming — or simply a hot meal.
Communication with Zohran Mamdani’s campaign was limited throughout the year due to ethics rules barring sitting prosecutors from engaging politically outside of their own re-election. But recent conversations with the incoming administration’s transition team are productive.
“A lot of the things that we’ve been doing, we’re hoping that the city will help us build upon and expand, and in some instances, fund,” said Bragg. “[And] talking to them about the community and the court navigators [and] about our felony alternatives to incarceration court — those are things we are flagging for the incoming administration. [If] we have something that we think is working, we want the incoming administration to know about it, and we want to expand it.”
Ultimately, Bragg sees re-election and continued service as a privilege. “The focus is on the well-being of the people directly harmed for whom we’re trying to get accountability and support,” he said. Against that backdrop, that’s the goal. Being for me, it’s just humbling to do that, and to be given the opportunity to do that for another four years is something I’m really honored to do.”
The post EXCLUSIVE: Manhattan District Attorney Bragg talks second term after re-election appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.
