New York Republican lawmakers are calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to remove Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg after several migrants accused of mobbing two NYPD cops in a Times Square attack were set free without bail.
State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt and 11 other senators called on the Democrat governor to can Bragg, citing the clash with as the latest in a long line of alleged failures by the lefty DA.
“He is running a public defenders office out of the district attorney’s office,” Ortt told reporters Tuesday.
“Bragg’s unconscionable handling of the recent attack on two NYPD officers by a gang of migrants outside of a Times Square shelter must be the final straw,” the letter, sent Tuesday, said. “The public safety of New Yorkers is clearly at risk.”
A group of migrants were caught on camera attacking two NYPD officers late last month. Several of the individuals involved were apprehended a short time later, and charged with assaulting a police officer, but were released from custody without bail. Several of them have since fled the state to California, sources previously told The Post.
“We are past the time for action,” Suffolk County Republican state Sen. Dean Murray said. “It is time that she remove Alvin Bragg from office. From the moment he took office, he was picking and choosing which laws he would enforce, which criminals he would go after and which ones he wouldn’t.”
New York’s bail laws are widely criticized as being too lenient, but assaulting a police officer is a bail-eligible offense.
Bragg’s office said at the time that he was reviewing more camera footage of the attack to determine different suspects’ involvement and appropriate charges, and has since taken a harder stance.
A spokesperson from Bragg’s office told The Post that the DA and police commissioner had stated this weekend that the office is working alongside cops “to make positive identifications, build our case, and hold those responsible accountable.”
“Shootings and murders are down 38% and 23% in Manhattan since D.A. Bragg took office, and gun prosecutions are up 20%,” the spokesperson said. “We welcome collaboration with the signatories on public safety initiatives such as strengthening our hate and sex crimes laws and investing in mental health initiatives that would prevent crime and save lives.”
Hochul has criticized the handling of the attack although she hasn’t mentioned Bragg by name, and has called for the migrants involved to be deported.
“They want to make sure they have the right person involved, but you can hold these people while you’re still investigating,” Hochul told MSNBC Tuesday. “You don’t let them out. You ask for bail, a judge grants it and then you hold people until you find out exactly what happened.”
“If Governor Hochul is serious, she believes they should have been deported, then she should fire Alvin Bragg, she should remove him from office because he simply is not performing the duties that we expect the district attorney to do,” Ortt said.
Republicans have campaigned on Bragg’s refusal to seek prison time for an array of crimes and to downgrade some felony charges. In his 2022 campaign to unseat Hochul, then-Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin made Bragg a frequent target, and vowed to remove him from office.