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Bail reform remains major issue in NY governor's race, 7 years after it became law

Gino Fanelli

Published Oct 18, 2026 at 7:00 a.m. ET

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A man in front of signs on help for inmates reentering society.

Gino Fanelli/NYPNN

Gino Fanelli

Published Oct 18, 2026 at 7:00 a.m. ET

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Fleeing a Rochester police officer after a deadly robbery, Edison Estremera-Cohen suddenly became the latest poster-child for opponents of bail reform.

Estremera-Cohen, 35, was caught on video in June 2025 running from cops when he turned around on a sidewalk and fired a gun at the officer giving chase. He missed. Cops returned fire and Estremera-Cohen was wounded.

It soon emerged Estremera-Cohen was out on bail for drug charges. He had an open warrant for skipping his sentencing for felony drug charges.

New York State of Unaffordability

WNYC and Gothamist are publishing a series of podcasts and articles on the race for governor ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3. Upstate public radio stations are contributing to the series through the New York Public Radio News Network.

Look for further coverage throughout October.

Previous installments:

NY's prison system is in crisis. It's driving staff away from the job.
How NY candidates for governor plan to address the childcare affordability crisis
Hochul, Blakeman offer opposing visions for jobs to stem New York exodus

"This is going to require a larger conversation," Rochester Mayor Malik Evans said at a news conference days later. "I'm extremely frustrated that an individual that was sentenced for a crime and now was out ... took a person's life and attempted to take a police officer's life. We cannot stand for that."

Estremera-Cohen was found guilty of murder and other charges last month.

Cases like his have become a key talking point in New York's governor's race. Gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman points to such headline-grabbing incidents as proof that policies enacted under the state’s Democratic leadership allow criminals to continue causing mayhem. Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul says the state’s “common-sense bail laws,” adopted in 2019, undid a historic wrong that disproportionately hurt people of color.

Between January 2021 and December 2025, state criminal courts recorded 1.5 million arraignments. Of those released without bail, 20% were rearrested on a new charge before their initial case was resolved, according to State Office of Court Administration data.

Those released on non-monetary conditions were far more likely to be arrested again, records show.

Data shows about 2% of those released on their own recognizance or non-monetary conditions like an ankle monitor were rearrested on a violent felony while their other case was still pending.

Those numbers are enough for Blakeman to want the law repealed. Hochul has pushed for various tweaks to soften its effects.

In 2022, for example, Hochul successfully lobbied for various gun charges, hate crimes, and vehicular assaults, among others, to become bail-eligible offenses. In 2023, she again tweaked the bill, giving judges more discretion when setting bail.

But while federal courts and nearly all states allow judges to consider evidence that a defendant poses a serious risk to community safety and is likely to reoffend, New York does not.

“When I came into office, I promised to do everything in my power to restore safety and security,” Hochul said in her 2026 State of the State. “We backed that promise with action: Unprecedented investments in police and public safety, the strongest gun laws in the nation and common-sense reforms to keep serial lawbreakers off the streets."

During an August campaign stop in the Rochester suburb of Gates, Blakeman said the law still has not done enough to stymie repeat offenders.

"Kathy Hochul and the Democrats threw the baby out with the bathwater, and now we have a situation where we have rampant criminality throughout our state," Blakeman said. "We have a revolving door of criminality."

An image from the body-worn camera of a Rochester police officer pursuing Estremera-Cohen, 35, in June 2025.

Rochester PD

Bernadette Rauby, the senior policy counsel at the New York Civil Liberties Union, said bail is fundamentally misunderstood as a punishment, instead of a means to ensure a person returns to court.

"Charges are just charges; they don't mean that anyone is guilty, especially at that very early stage," Rauby said. "Many cases do get dismissed, or through the pendency of the case, might result in less serious charges than were initially charged by the prosecution."

"So, bail is really about making sure that someone is able to return to court to resolve any criminal charges they're facing," she said.

Rauby and the NYCLU argue that the original bail reform policy adopted in 2019 undid a law that disproportionately punished poor people. For example, a 2023 report from the progressive policy think tank FWD found that New Yorkers paid about $104 million less in bail in the first few years of the policy and avoided 1.9 million nights in jail.

"There are always going to be some number of people who are released pretrial who, unfortunately, are rearrested and charged with a crime," Rauby said. "I think that part of what happens is, there are stories that overemphasize those people, and there are calls to change policy based off of these few-and-far-between stories of certain people. Obviously, in an ideal world, that wouldn't happen. But there's always going to be at least one example of that."

James VanBrederode, a former Gates police chief, said bail reform created an environment where accountability is difficult and meaningful intervention for repeat offenders is a challenge.

"We’ve got to do better at what we're doing," said VanBrederode, who ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2024. "We can't just bring somebody into the police department, fill out some paperwork, and send them away when it's glaringly obvious there is a problem. Because how are we ever going to get to the solution if we're not going to address the problem?"

VanBrederode acknowledged that not everyone needs to be held pretrial. But he said more should be done to target repeat offenders.

Bernadette Rauby, the senior policy counsel at the New York Civil Liberties Union, said bail is fundamentally misunderstood as a punishment, instead of a means to ensure a person returns to court.

"Charges are just charges; they don't mean that anyone is guilty, especially at that very early stage," Rauby said.

Many cases get dismissed, or through the pendency of the case, might result in less serious charges than were initially charged by the prosecution, she said.

"So, bail is really about making sure that someone is able to return to court to resolve any criminal charges they're facing," she said.

Rauby and the NYCLU argue that the original bail reform policy adopted in 2019 undid a law that disproportionately punished poor people.

For example, a 2023 report from the progressive policy think tank FWD found that New Yorkers paid about $104 million less in bail in the first few years of the policy and avoided 1.9 million nights in jail.

"There are always going to be some number of people who are released pre-trial who, unfortunately, are re-arrested and charged with a crime," Rauby said. "I think that part of what happens is, there are stories that overemphasize those people, and there are calls to change policy based off of these few-and-far-between stories of certain people. Obviously, in an ideal world, that wouldn't happen. But there's always going to be at least one example of that."

Former Gates police chief James VanBrederode said bail reform created an environment where accountability is difficult and meaningful intervention for repeat offenders is a challenge.

VanBrederode acknowledged that not everyone needs to be held pretrial. But he said more should be done to target repeat offenders.

New York is the only state which prohibits judges from assessing a defendant's potential risk to the public, known as a dangerousness standard.

"This isn't about harassing them or putting them in jail," VanBrederode said. "It's about how do you keep people safe? If you have an abuser in a domestic violence situation, how do you keep that victim safe? I mean, at some point, the criminal justice system has to also keep us safe."

For those who have actually lived through the criminal justice system, the issue is not so black and white.

Miquel Powell, who runs the Reentry and Community Development Center for prisoners reentering society, said he spent much of his youth behind bars. He dropped out of high school, dealt drugs and at 17 was arrested for criminal mischief. Bail was set at $250, which he couldn’t pay. He served 45 days in Monroe County jail.

In 2003, Powell fired a shotgun at a downtown daycare center and wounded a woman. He served five years behind bars.

He credits prison with getting his life back on track.

"You have people that go downtown; they might have tried the streets or tried to commit some type of crime, but then they go downtown, and they see what you got to deal with," Powell said. "You got to really fight down there."

"Once they're exposed to that, chances are some people might say, ’Nah, I ain't going back there,'" he continued.

The Reentry and Community Development Center sees about 75 people a year, all working to rebuild their lives following incarceration. Some struggle with addiction. Others were simply living a "street" life, Powell said.

For him, it's a complicated issue, with no simple answer.

"I understand both sides," Powell said, agreeing that bail reform was needed.

"My issue with bail reform is that repeat offender type of thing, because I believe that if you’re out, you shouldn't have the opportunity to have another case and then you get out on that, too," he said.

Tagged

new york

public safety

Gino Fanelli

Gino Fanelli is a reporter for the New York Public News Network in Rochester.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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