Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg reverses pair of controversial policies
Embattled Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg reversed a pair of his most controversial policies in writing on Friday with a new memo calling for commercial robberies committed with knives to once again be prosecuted as felonies.
Bragg’s memo to staff also said that holding up a store or other business with a firearm “will be charged as a felony, whether or not the gun is operable, loaded, or a realistic imitation.”
“The default in gun cases is a felony prosecution,” Bragg wrote.
The moves followed widespread outrage at the soft-on-crime directives that Bragg issued to Manhattan prosecutors in a stunning “Day One” memo — exposed by The Post — just after he took office Jan. 1.
In the follow-up memo to his staff Friday, Bragg, a Democrat, said he wanted to “memorialize the key elements that I conveyed in our office-wide meeting on January 20.”
“A commercial robbery at knifepoint, or by other weapon that creates a risk of physical harm, will be charged as a felony,” he wrote.
“In retail thefts that do not involve a risk of physical harm, the Office will continue to assess the charges based on all of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances presented.”
The walk-back — which Bragg characterized as adding “clarity” to his controversial “Day One” memo — marked the second time he’s reversed some of its soft-on-crime provisions.
Just one day after The Post revealed his progressive agenda, Bragg’s office said it would prosecute armed robberies of stores and other businesses with guns as felonies.
The head of the NYPD’s largest union — who last month said that cops “don’t want to be sent out to enforce laws that the district attorneys won’t prosecute” — said Friday’s memo was overdue.
“We hope this updated memo filters down to the streets the way the first one did, because gun-toting criminals definitely believe they have a safe haven in Manhattan,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said in a prepared statement.
“DA Bragg needs to keep sending the message that they won’t get a pass, and his staff needs to back that message up in the courtroom.”
But Paul DiGiacomo, president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, said in a statement: “The fact that a district attorney had to send out a new memo stating that armed robbery will NOW be charged as a felony is almost as scary as the crime crisis he’s supposed to fighting.”
“The fact is, Detectives and law abiding New Yorkers have no confidence in DA Bragg. The criminals seem to love him,” DiGiacomo added.
City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) said, “The criticism must have worked.”
“Bragg realized the predicament he put members of his own party in and the jeopardy he placed most New Yorkers in,” he said.
“The shame is that Bragg was the last person to realize people want bad guys in jail.”
On Jan. 21, Bragg came under fire during a remote meeting with about 75 members of the pro-business Partnership for New York City, with major industry leaders saying their employees didn’t feel safe.
Partnership CEO Kathryn Wylde called Bragg’s about-face “an important step in restoring confidence in the safety of our city.”
Wylde also said it showed he’s “a good listener and responsive to the concerns that employers and workers had with prosecution policies that seemed to encourage criminal behavior.”
NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell also met with Bragg on Jan. 11 after blasting his “Day One” memo in an email to the city’s cops that said she was ” very concerned about the implications to your safety as police officers, the safety of the public and justice for the victims.”
In a statement Friday, an NYPD spokesperson said, We are aware of the clarification and look forward to working together to ensure safety in our city.”
Bragg’s backtrack came around the same time a small group of protesters picketed his office at an event organized by the Bronx Conservative Party.
Michael Henry, a Republican candidate for state attorney general, invoked last week’s funeral for slain NYPD cop Jason Rivera, saying he was “inspired” to see widow Dominique Luzuriaga “slam the performance of DA Alvin Bragg, who is making this city and state more dangerous.”
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Rosner
