Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Bragg Admits He Botched Policy Rollout, But Stands By Controversial Memo
By
Gwynne Hogan
Published Jan 20, 2022
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
By
Gwynne Hogan
Published Jan 20, 2022
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg acknowledged Thursday that he botched the rollout of his controversial Day 1 Policy Memo which sparked immediate backlash and weeks of relentless tabloid coverage.
But, during a virtual appearance before a panel at New York University Law School, he stood by the underlying policies within the document.
“I've been a lawyer for a long time. I've been doing the work. I have not been a comms person,” Bragg told the panel of attorneys Thursday afternoon. “I've got a lot to learn about comms and messaging. Lesson learned — we'll be framing our arguments and our theses going forward.”
At issue was the Jan. 3 memo sent to staff and subsequently released to the press, that outlined a new set of policies and principles he wanted his assistant district attorneys to follow. It included a list of low-level criminal charges Bragg’s office would no longer prosecute, it said prosecutors should seek prison time as a last resort, and it stated a commitment to reducing pre-trial detention.
The memo, which was released without a press conference, triggered a flurry of speculation that Bragg would stop prosecuting serious crimes in Manhattan and slew of headlines from Fox News, the New York Post and the Daily Mail calling him “soft on crime.”
Some of the coverage, Bragg said, came from misinterpretations of a memo originally meant for prosecutors in his office. Some of that scrutiny centered around his statements that certain crimes that had been charged as violent robberies would be charged as petit larcenies. Public defenders have said under former District Attorney Cyrus Vance, their clients often faced “upcharging,” meaning prosecutors levied more serious charges against them than the actual offenses they were alleged to have committed.
Bragg said in cases where the facts indicated a serious crime, perpetrators would be charged accordingly.
“If you are beating someone up and brandishing a knife, that is a serious matter,” Bragg said. “The fact pattern …under our law is quite serious.”
Still Bragg indicated the policies he laid out weren’t meant to be set in stone and that prosecutors in his office would have the freedom to apply them with their own discretion.
It’s about, “being dynamic and not being static,” Bragg said. “It's the framework.”
Tagged
Alvin Bragg
criminal justice
Gwynne Hogan
Gwynne Hogan is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
News
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .