NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — 1010 WINS’ Mack Rosenberg had a one-on-one interview with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Tuesday to discuss the statistical decrease in crime in the borough versus the public's perception of safety and the idea that he could be “soft on crime.”
Listen to the full interview below:
Bragg acknowledged that public perception of crime in Manhattan may be negative, but said that he would rather focus on facts and law.
“Often times, people are painting with a broad brush, they’re not hearing or learning about the particular facts of the matter,” Bragg said.
Instead, Bragg turned to the numbers that reflect that crime in Manhattan has decreased—despite struggling to get below pre-pandemic numbers.
“Just look at the results we’re getting, the collaboration, you know, 38% decline in shootings during my two-year tender, 21% decline in homicides, the fact that Manhattan is, you know, down in all the index crimes,” Bragg said.
Major index crime (murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto) is down 8% in Manhattan compared to two years ago, while violent subway crime is down 9% this year in the borough, according to statistics provided by the district attorney’s office.
Bragg acknowledged that an issue when tackling crime is recidivism. For example, prosecutors said that 18% of people arrested for shoplifting commit 40% of shoplifting crimes.
“So we’ve been focusing on that population. We’ve been coordinating, you know, met in the last couple of weeks with a number of commanding officers to focus on the people who are repeatedly engaging in illegal conduct,” Bragg said.
Despite the numbers dropping, Bragg said that he understands public perception is a factor in public safety, and has taken opportunities to listen to New Yorkers in public forums.
After hearing resident concerns during a recent community meeting, Bragg sent members of his team to subway stations to intervene and engage with unhoused people.
“We sent out some folks, our community navigators, to a particular train stop to intervene and engage with unhoused persons. So we’re doing this every single day,” Bragg said.
Earlier this year, New York State Senate Republicans made an attempt to have Gov. Kathy Hochul remove Bragg from office due to their perception that he is “soft on crime.” The district attorney took Tuesday’s interview as an opportunity to warn against the politicization of public safety in Manhattan.
“It’s sort of disturbing to me that folks would try to politicize what are really fundamentally important issues,” Bragg said. “Obviously always room for improvement, but we cannot play politics with people’s safety.”