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Race, crime, Trump loom over vote for Manhattan’s next DA
BY LINDA SO AND JASON SZEP
REUTERS
In 46 years, the Manhattan district
attorney’s offi ce has changed leaders
only twice, in low-key elections focused
heavily on fi ghting crime.
Not this year.
Whoever wins this election could transform
law enforcement in America’s biggest
city with policies aiming to imprison fewer
people. The winner will also inherit one of
the nation’s most politically fraught cases: a
criminal investigation into former president
Donald Trump’s business dealings.
The nine candidates – the largest and
most diverse fi eld in the offi ce’s 220-year
history – offered competing visions in
interviews for how to police Manhattan’s
1.6 million people.
Nearly all said they would jail fewer
people for minor crimes and address
systemic racial bias. Most would eliminate
or curtail cash bail, which they argue disproportionately
impacts poor defendants.
And while all declined to comment on how
they’d handle the Trump probe, without
knowing all the evidence, several touted
their credentials for taking on powerful
people like the former president.
“Nobody is above the law, no matter
who you are or what offi ce you went on to
occupy,” said Tali Farhadian Weinstein,
45, a former federal prosecutor and general
counsel to Brooklyn’s district attorney.
Their campaigns reflect a national
reckoning over tensions between law
enforcement and racial minorities, along
with a push for more diverse leadership
in institutions traditionally run by white
A combination picture shows the candidates of the District Attorney of New York
posing for a portrait in New York City, New York, U.S. Top row (L-R): Tahanie
Aboushi, Diana Florence, and Dan Quart. Middle row (L-R): Alvin Bragg, Lucy
Lang, and Tali Farhadian Weinstein. Bottom row (L-R): Liz Crotty, Eliza Orlins,
and Thomas Kenniff. Pictures taken between April 13, 2021 and April 15, 2021.
men. The next D.A. could infl uence crime
policy nationally because of New York’s
trend-setting impact on other big cities.
New York tested some policy changes
similar to those proposed by the candidates
during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as
early release from jail or prison to reduce
overcrowding. Many want to go further by
ending prosecution of low-level crimes such
as trespassing, driving with a suspended
license or disorderly conduct.
“These cases don’t make us safer,” said
candidate Alvin Bragg, 47, a former federal
prosecutor and deputy New York attorney
general. He said he would “drastically”
reduce misdemeanor prosecutions, most
CARLO ALLEGRI
of which involve minorities. “We’ve got to
deal with these racial disparities,” he said.
Bragg, a Harvard Law graduate and the
only Black candidate, grew up in Harlem
and describes a 1989 incident where police
mistook him for a drug dealer and put a
gun to his head. He said the encounter
inspired him to become a lawyer.
Five candidates identified low-level
crimes they wouldn’t pursue. Eliza Orlins
vowed to decline prosecution of “the vast
majority of misdemeanors.” Orlins, 38, is
a public defender and a former participant
on the CBS reality shows “Survivor” and
“The Amazing Race.”
Candidate Dan Quart, 48, a seven-term
state lawmaker, introduced legislation to
end cash bail in 2018 and would seek to
end the practice as D.A. “It’s punitive and
unnecessary,” he said.
Also running on an anti-bail plank is
Lucy Lang, 40, a former Manhattan prosecutor.
She supports alternatives such as
text-messaging defendants to remind them
of court dates.
Two candidates – Liz Crotty, a criminal
defense attorney and former prosecutor;
and Iraq war veteran Thomas Kenniff,
the lone Republican – said a bail system
is needed for repeat offenders posing a
safety risk. “Bail reform has to speak to
the recidivist offender,” said Crotty, 50.
The race is heating up ahead of a June
22 nominating contest to select the Democratic
candidate who will face Republican
Kenniff, a 45-year-old lawyer, in the
November 2 general election. Kenniff says
limiting enforcement for low-level offenses
would make the city more dangerous. “The
last thing we want to do is roll back law enforcement
in underserved neighborhoods,”
he said. “We don’t want our city to turn
back to the bad old days.”
Three of the candidates – Tahanie
Aboushi, Orlins and Quart – have no
prosecutorial experience. Orlins called it
an advantage to come from outside of the
city’s “unjust and cruel” justice system. “It’s
time to bring about real change,” she said.
Candidate Diana Florence, a former top
deputy in Vance’s offi ce, said Trump’s family
business should have faced scrutiny years
ago. Florence, 50, touts her 25-year career
as a Manhattan prosecutor as one of her
top selling points: “There is no one more
qualifi ed to take on that investigation.”
Latest local endorsements in mayoral race
Tejada, McGuire endorse each other
Mayoral candidate Ray McGuire and New York City
Council District 7 candidate Luis Tejada cross endorsed
each other in their bids for offi ce. Tejada said he looked
forward to campaigning with McGuire.
“In order to preserve affordable housing and jobs for
real New Yorkers, we need a mayor that meets this moment,”
said Tejada. “Ray McGuire’s plan to uplift neighborhoods
will help eliminate the displacement of thousands
of families by predatory landlords. Ray’s Comeback Plan
will protect against the unfair and unjust closing of small
businesses and preserve jobs in our community.
McGuire said he was honored to endorse Tejada and
to receive his endorsement.
“We have shared values and a vision for NYC that
includes uplifting communities previously left out of
the immense possibilities that NYC offers,” he said.
“I’m excited to campaign alongside Luis Tejada to take
our plans to the people and deliver the most inclusive
economic recovery in our city’s history.”
Morales endorsed by Sunrise Movement
Mayoral candidate Dianne Morales was endorsed by
the Sunrise Movement.
The Sunrise movement is a national grassroot organization
that mobilizes to stop climate change. Morales’
campaign said that having their endorsement was a
stamp of approval on Morales’ climate policy.
“Having the endorsement of their NYC hub means Dianne’s
climate policy is the real deal,” her campaign said.
“As mayor, Dianne will be committed to co-creating a
transformative climate governance that addresses injustices
in our natural and social environments — especially
those of our poor, immigrant, and Black and Brown
communities.”
Compiled by Clarissa Sosin
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