Bronx District Attorney
Name: Darcel Clark
In office since: Elected in 2015. Assumed office January 2016
Prior experience: Former prosecutor and former judge
Supervising ADA in the Narcotics Bureau and the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Court Bureau (1986 to 1999)
Appointed by Mayor Rudy Guiliani to serve as a judge in NYC Criminal Court (1999 to 2006)
Elected to the Supreme Court in Bronx County (2006 to 2012)
Appointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo to serve as Associate Justice of the Appellate Division of the First Department of the New York Supreme Court (2012 to 2015)
Memberships held: Board Member of both the National District Attorneys Association and the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York
Policy positions and decisions:
- Clark was one of the presiding judges in the case of Kalief Browder. The court hearings Clark presided over helped prolong Browder’s pretrial detention by more than 300 days, according to his former lawyer and his brother.
Bronx DA Office
Budget (FY2023): ~ $100 million
# of People Sent to Rikers in ‘22: 3,144
% of Jail Admissions that are Misdemeanor cases in ‘22: 16%
% of Cases Prosecuted Where Individual Was Black/Latinx in ‘22: 95% (Bronx is 86% Black or Latinx)
People Who Died on Rikers (‘22, ‘23, ‘24): Gregory Acevedo, Albert Drye, Antonio Bradley, Mary Yehudah, George Pagan
Sources:
https://www.bronxda.nyc.gov/html/about/district-attorneys-bio.shtml
https://history.nycourts.gov/biography/darcel-d-clark/
https://council.nyc.gov/budget/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2023/03/DAs-OSNP.pdf
Brooklyn District Attorney
Name: Eric Gonzalez
In office since: Appointed as acting district attorney in October 2016. Elected in 2017.
Prior experience: Former prosecutor
Served in the Sex Crimes and Special Victims Bureau, Domestic Violence Bureau, Orange Trial Zone Bureau, and Green Trial Zone Bureau in the Kings County DA’s office (1995 to 2014)
Counsel to the District Attorney (March 2014 to
Chief Assistant District Attorney (October 2014 to October 2016)
Memberships held: Member of the Puerto Rican Bar Association and is also on the Board of Directors of the Kings County Criminal Bar Association
Brooklyn DA Office
Budget (FY2023): ~ $130 million
# of People Sent to Rikers in ‘22: 4,467
% of Jail Admissions that are Misdemeanor cases in ‘22: 16%
% of Cases Prosecuted Where Individual Was Black/Latinx in ‘22: 85% (Brooklyn is 49% Black or Latinx)
People Who Died on Rikers (‘22, ‘23, ‘24): Chima Williams, Curtis Davis, William Johnstone, Rubu Zhao, Robert Pondexter, Kevin Bryan, Elijah Muhammad, Anibal Carrasquillo
Sources:
http://www.brooklynda.org/eric-gonzalez/
https://www.kccba.org/leadership
https://council.nyc.gov/budget/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2023/03/DAs-OSNP.pdf
Manhattan District Attorney
Name: Alvin Bragg
In office since: Elected in 2021. Assumed office January 2022
Prior experience: Former professor and former Assistant Attorney General and US Attorney for the Southern District
Visiting Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Racial Justice Project at New York Law School
Assistant Attorney General at the New York State Attorney General’s Office
Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York
Memberships held: Former member of the Board of Directors of the New York Urban League and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Policy positions and decisions:
- On the campaign trail, Bragg committed to abolishing his office’s use of cash bail. He said his office would request supervised release and remand in cases involving a risk of flight. However, in practice his office: requested bail in 3,532 cases that continued past arraignment in 2022 (17.2%). Requested bail in 763 misdemeanor cases in 2022. $30,000 median bail requested in felony cases in 2022. $5,000 median bail requested in misdemeanor cases in 2022. Estimated the office requested bail in 46% of bail-eligible cases in 2022 (violent and nonviolent felonies). Or an estimated 61.4% of bail-eligible cases if just looking at violent felonies.
Other info:
- Since the 1930s, there have been just four elected District Attorneys in Manhattan
- Bragg represented Eric Garner’s mother and sister in a lawsuit against the City of New York concerning Eric Garner’s death
Manhattan DA Office
Budget (FY2023): ~ $148 million
# of People Sent to Rikers in ‘22: 4,812
% of Jail Admissions that are Misdemeanor cases in ‘22: 21%
% of Cases Prosecuted Where Individual Was Black/Latinx in ‘22: 86% (Manhattan is 39% Black or Latinx)
People Who Died on Rikers (‘22, ‘23, ‘24): Manuel Luna, William Johnstone, Joshua Valles, Marvin Pines, Edgardo Mejias, Gilberto Garcia, Erick Tavira, Michael Nieves, Ricardo Cruciani, Michael Lopez, Albert Drye
Sources:
https://manhattanda.org/meet-alvin-bragg/
https://envisionfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/BCBF-Manhattan-DA-Voter-Guide-.pdf
https://www.5bd.org/ManhattanDARace.pdf
https://council.nyc.gov/budget/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2023/03/DAs-OSNP.pdf
Queens DA
Name: Melinda Katz
In office since: Elected in 2019. Assumed office January 2020.
Prior experience: Former legislator, securities litigator, and borough president
Elected to New York State Assembly (1994 to 1999)
Elected to New York City Council (2002 to 2009)
Securities litigator for Weil Gotshal (2009 to 2013)
Queens Borough President (2014 to 2019)
Policy positions and decisions:
- DA Katz ran on a commitment to “conviction integrity,” yet four prosecutors found to have engaged in racial or religious discrimination under a former DA were given raises by DA Katz, according to city payroll records. Ethics complaints were also filed against 19 other Queens prosecutors in 2021.
- DA Katz promised to end the prosecution of sex work but has failed to do so
Queens DA Office
Budget (FY2023): ~ $87 million
# of People Sent to Rikers in ‘22: 3,482
% of Jail Admissions that were Misdemeanor cases in ‘22: 13%
% of Cases Prosecuted Where Individual Was Black/Latinx in ‘22: 75% (Queens is 46% Black or Latinx)
People Who Died on Rikers (‘22, ‘23, ‘24): Manish Kunwar, Donny Ubiera
Sources:
https://queensda.org/team/da-katz/
https://council.nyc.gov/budget/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2023/03/DAs-OSNP.pdf
Staten Island DA
Name: Michael McMahon
In office since: Took office in 2016.
Prior experience: Former legislator
Member of the New York City Council (2002 to 2008)
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York’s 13th district (2009 to 2011)
Policy positions and decisions:
- Opposes criminal justice reforms aimed at reducing mass incarceration and believes the “safety of his constituents must not fall victim to misguided, idealistic policies from inexperienced, naïve legislators.”
- In 2009, McMahon voted against the Affordable Health Care for America Act
- “boasts a higher trial conviction rate than the other four boroughs”
Staten Island DA Office
Budget (FY2023): ~ $21 million
# of People Sent to Rikers in ‘22: 819
% of Jail Admissions that are Misdemeanor cases in ‘22: 16%
% of Cases Prosecuted Where Individual Was Black/Latinx in ‘22: 68% (Staten Island is 29% Black or Latinx)
People Who Died on Rikers (‘22, ‘23, ‘24): Rickey Howell, Felix Taveras, Emanuel Sullivan, Dashawn Carter
Sources:
https://www.statenislandda.org/about-michael-mcmahon/
https://council.nyc.gov/budget/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2023/03/DAs-OSNP.pdf
PCPA NYC
The People’s Coalition for Prosecutor Accountability NYC is a coalition of advocacy organizations, grassroots-led networks, and legal aid providers that have come together to hold NYC’s District Attorneys accountable.
