Gun violence prevention, shoddy landlords and a financial investigation into an ex-president to name a few things—Alvin Bragg’s plate is always full during his freshman year as Manhattan district attorney. But this past Thursday morning, he’s only focused on his egg white veggie omelet and a side of an unhealthy breakfast food he insists be scratched from the record. Over the meal, Bragg recounts 2022’s biggest hits as New York County’s first ever Black chief prosecutor.
“Allen Weisselberg plea, Trump Organization convictions, Stephen Bannon indictment, Steven Lopez vacatur, creation of the Housing Unit, creation of the Pathways [to Public Safety] Division,” he said. “And the people that we’ve already begun to connect with services. Our Own Every Dollar [Gang] prosecution in conjunction with the feds [and the gun violence prevention] initiative, those are some of the things that stand out.”
He also tallies his mental health initiative, announced just a day earlier. The $9 million investment goes towards housing, treatment and care. Councilmember Shaun Abreu, who Bragg shouts out as a staunch ally throughout his first year, called the funding critical for making communities safer through measures “that actual work.”
“This program targets the determinants of crime and provides key wrap-around services before individuals become justice-involved and after low-level court arraignment,” said Abreu from his statement. “By making sure our neighbors have housing assistance, substance abuse treatment, and mental illness support, we’re able to prevent incarceration and make our communities safer.”
Back in summer, Bragg handed $20,000 to 10 gun violence prevention groups to employ at-risk youngsters, paying them to handle tasks like beautifying “shooting hotspots.” He recently visited an East Harlem mural the youngsters were putting together through the initiative.
“They were still working on it [when I last saw] it, I don’t know if it’s been complete,” said Bragg, laughing. “There was a little bit more to be done. I’ve enjoyed that a lot. Connecting with people, listening and learning.
“In particular, where I was yesterday, [there were] Black and brown young men—I want to be their district attorney, not just someone who’s downtown, far away in court. But someone who is engaged in the community because ultimately, it’s about our community’s well being, public safety and public health.”
His new units are also a long-term investment. In March, Bragg announced his Pathways to Public Safety Division to focus on reducing recidivism and offering alternatives to incarceration. In October, he established the Office’s first Housing & Tenant Protection Unit to prosecute erroneous landlords and developers, an issue he’s seen often addressed in civil court but not in criminal proceedings. And his new Wrongful Conviction Unit made national headlines, exonerating Steven Lopez, a co-defendant in the Central Park jogger case this past summer.
The farsighted ground game makes sense. Bragg is technically serving a four-year term. But the seat is almost never just a quadrennial stint—since the end of World War II, just three other elected Manhattan district attorneys precede him.
Yet the typical job security Bragg’s forerunners enjoyed wasn’t always extended to the Harlem-native throughout 2022. He faced regular attacks from right-wing opponents for what they considered a “soft-on-crime” approach as public safety concerns balloon throughout the city. Most notably, Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin promised to fire Bragg as his first move as governor if elected. (He wasn’t.) New York State Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay penned a legislative column proposing a constitutional amendment to facilitate a recall against Bragg in June. And the opposition expands outside of the city—and state—of New York, especially with the added scrutiny of the Office’s investigations into former Republican Pres. Donald Trump and his past associates like Weisselberg and Bannon. Bragg says he can only drown out the noise, although he acknowledges the reach his Office possesses.
“Look, I’m a Manhattan kid, I’ve been here my whole life,” he said. “We know the dimensions of being here, that just living here could be [seen] nationally. I remember going off to college and my roommate was from some other part of the country—I’d already heard some of the songs that were released. I was like ‘you haven’t heard this? We had this in New York six months ago.’ Whether it’s fashion, whether it’s music, whether it’s legal cases being brought, we’re leaders.
“We serve Manhattan, that’s what we serve. Manhattan includes our population [which]—pre-COVID during the day—swells with tourists and commuters. So those are all people who [are] concerned about their safety as well. We’ve got that kind of local reach that’s broader than Manhattan. And nationally, people are watching us, but that’s part of being here.”
So what should New Yorkers expect of Bragg’s second year?
“We’re going to continue to build on the foundation we built this year, so the great partnerships with federal and state on gun violence—that’s going to remain at the top of the list,” he said. “Expanded resources we directed to hate crimes in that unit, we’re going to continue to prioritize that…so guns and hate crimes. Then what we’ve done with the building work of [the] Pathways [to Public Safety Division]. We’ve staffed up, it’s been a lot of time putting people in position to have our work chart reflect our priorities.
“In terms of new things that we haven’t fully [realized], we launched the Housing Unit, to see that start to really take off in the new year. And then our labor worker protection work is something else we want to focus on.”
But before he figures all that out, he needs to pay for breakfast. And the waiter just handed him a QR code instead of a traditional receipt. Resigned, Bragg hands the server his physical credit card. After all, he can’t look into the future for everything.
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https://bit.ly/amnews1