'Voters should not be disregarded': Alvin Bragg on his first year as Manhattan DA

Plus: Will Albany approve Mayor Adams' mental health agenda? [FORWARD TO A FRIEND]( [VIEW IN BROWSER]( [DONATE]( [WNYC Politics Brief] [Ad: New Jersey Symphony's 2022/2023 centennial season with yo yo ma]( Sponsored Message 'Voters should not be disregarded': Alvin Bragg reflects on first year as Manhattan's DA [a portrait of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg] Reece T. Williams/Gothamist A progressive Democrat and the first African American to be elected Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg became a frequent target of Republicans across New York this year, led in large part by the party’s candidate for governor, Rep. Lee Zeldin. The Long Island congressman [pledged he would fire Bragg "on day one,"]( alleging that Bragg was too lenient when it came to prosecuting certain offenses. Last week, Bragg sat down for a one-on-one conversation with WNYC’s Brigid Bergin about his tumultuous first year in office, including how he became central to the governor’s race and what he plans to change in his approach to year two on the job. Below are highlights from their conversation, [a longer version of which can be read here](. Brigid Bergin: Why do you think you became Zeldin’s target? Alvin Bragg: I'm not going to purport to speak for Lee Zeldin but to me it was quite unfortunate. We have real public safety challenges that require real discussion about facts, about data, about people's experiences. That's what I do professionally. To have very serious issues reduced to, many times, kind of false facts, it was very sobering — taking us back to sort of a Willie Horton era of politics. I just thought it was a disservice to the voters. Our gun prosecutions are up, our hate crime prosecutions are up — that was nowhere in the conversation ... But thankfully I'm in Manhattan, and Manhattan voters are astute. I won about 83% of the vote last year and Gov. [Kathy] Hochul's Manhattan percentage was about that. BB: You're not the only progressive prosecutor that Republicans across the country have gone after. Certainly, we saw it happen with the recall in San Francisco, what's going on right now in Philadelphia with Larry Krasner and the impeachment trial. I'm wondering what you think it says about the ongoing threats to democratically elected officials across the country? AB: Voting matters. Voting should matter. Democracy matters. Our institutions, local elections matter. Voters should not be disregarded. We've got to hold people in power accountable. But this notion of removing people because they disagree with us; like let's get back to the real conversations. You have a policy disagreement? Bring your policy positions, bring your data, bring the folks who would testify at a hearing, and let's talk. BB: You did come under fire earlier this year for what was characterized as kind of a pulling back on your office's investigation of former President Donald Trump, especially after [two of your prosecutors resigned](. But your office did pursue the Trump Organization. Can you talk about what's specifically at issue in this case? AB: I like the way you said characterization of a pullback. I mentioned earlier that one of the constraints of this role is we can't talk about everything we're doing. It would not be appropriate. It could prejudice a case if brought. So we put out a statement in April saying that the work continues, the investigation's ongoing. I can talk about what is in the public domain generally in this space. We [indicted Mr. [Steve] Bannon]( earlier this year on fraud and money laundering charges. The Trump Organization trial ... it's a tax case against two Trump corporations, which we collectively refer to as the Trump Organization, about, we allege, benefits that were received by executives that were not properly reported and we allege, for the benefit of the Trump Organization. BB: You started off this year with "the memo" about charges you'd no longer prosecute, [which you then re-contextualized](. How do you want to start this upcoming year? You're not up for a reelection until 2025, but what do you want people to be thinking about your office differently going forward? AB: We are going to continue to press on gun violence. I view that still as the number one issue, trending in the right direction, that's going to continue to be a significant priority. We spent some time talking about mental health — I do think if we can really help with some key investments and flag that as an issue that affects the system A to Z and address that, that will address recidivism and get us to some really enduring public safety benefits. We started a Housing and Tenant Protection Unit. We had someone specifically focusing on gun interdiction. We created a freestanding special victims division to give more resources to domestic violence, sex crimes, elder abuse and child abuse and human trafficking. We're going to continue to do that and to continue to listen. To go back to what I talked about, kind of real conversations. I think it's important to know that we've got great lawyers here, great public servants, great social workers. But we're also out in the community listening all the time. I think that's part of the job, too. [Read the full interview here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 🗳️ --------------------------------------------------------------- [Ad: New Jersey Symphony's 2022/2023 centennial season with music director xian zhang]( Sponsored Message --------------------------------------------------------------- More political headlines from today: [Mayor Eric Adams flanked by Sheena Wright and Camille Joseph Varlack] [Mayor Adams names replacements for top posts as he ends first year in office]( Sheena Wright, who currently serves as deputy mayor for strategic initiatives, will now serve as first deputy mayor. Camille Joseph Varlack, a senior adviser to the mayor, will become his chief of staff. [Gov. Kathy Hochul with Mayor Adams standing behind her] [The mayor has a mental health agenda. Will Albany play ball?]( Mayor Eric Adams' directive to involuntarily hospitalize people presumed to be mentally ill will require Democrats in Albany to change state law. [Comptroller Brad Lander] [NYC comptroller says Adams has 'exacerbated' widespread city worker vacancies]( New York City is struggling with double-digit vacancy rates in "mission critical" areas of the municipal workforce, including the Department of Social Services and the Department of Buildings, according to Comptroller Brad Lander. [former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin] [Federal judge in NY tosses key charges in Brian Benjamin indictment]( The court dismissed three of the five charges brought against former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, all related to donations he received from a real estate investor-turned-campaign donor. --------------------------------------------------------------- 🗳️ --------------------------------------------------------------- [Ad: New Jersey Symphony's 2022/2023 centennial season with yo yo ma]( Sponsored Message [the logo for Brian Lehrer's politics podcast] [Adams administration responds to critics of its plan for mentally ill New Yorkers]( Anne Williams-Isom, New York City deputy mayor for health and human services, defends Mayor Eric Adams' plan to involuntarily hospitalize people experiencing mental illness in public, and explains in more detail how this will work. [LISTEN]( Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential political coverage and more. [DONATE]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [WNYC]( [WQXR]( [NJPR]( [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013 All rights reserved. [Terms of Use.]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your [preferences]( or [unsubscribe]( from this list