DISTRICT ATTORNEY
PRIMARY ELECTION: JUNE 22, 2021
The Manhattan D.A. is meant to represent to the People of the State of New York in bringing charges against suspects in court of law. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is tasked to investigate and prosecute crimes in the borough of Manhattan. Amid controversy surrounding campaign financing and decisions to not prosecute wealthy defendants like Harvey Weinstein, current District Attorney Cy Vance will not be seeking re-election to public office. The new D.A. will take over amid a surge in violent crime and protests for racial justice.
This year will be the first year NYC institutes ranked-choice voting, meaning that voters will be able to rank their preferences of who they'd like to be elected on a 1-5 scale. If a candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, that individual wins the election.
GENERAL ELECTION: NOV 2, 2021
Meet the Candidates
Alvin Bragg
Bragg started out his career as a civil rights lawyer and criminal defense lawyer. Eventually, Bragg moved on to become a Manhattan federal prosecutor and worked his way up to the New York State Attorney's Office as the Chief Deputy Attorney General, overseeing a staff of 1,200 people. Bragg has also held the position of Executive Deputy Attorney General (EDAG) for Social Justice. Bragg is currently a part-time Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Racial Justice Project at New York Law School.
What Stands Out: Bragg has substantial management experience in both public safety and civil rights. As Chief Deputy Attorney General, Bragg helped determine the office’s investigation priorities and managed the Criminal Justice and Social Justice Divisions. As the Chief of Special Investigations and Prosecutions Unit (SIPU), Bragg oversaw investigations of law enforcement's role in the death of civilians and reviewed a District Attorney’s handling of a civilian shot by a police officer. Bragg's positions have resulted in his involvement with prosecuting corrupt politicians, discriminatory redlining, and bringing significant criminal charges in bribery, securities fraud, and Medicaid fraud matters. Bragg has also stated he will not prosecute any low-level offenses if it does not endanger public safety.
Learn more about his policies here: https://www.alvinbragg.com/
Dan Quart
Quart is a civil litigator and five-term Democratic Assembly Member representing the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Quart started out working for the Legal Aid Society's Housing Division and currently works as one of NYC's award-winning pro-bono attorneys, representing low-income individuals and families.
What Stands Out: Like some of the other candidates running, Quart has never worked as a prosecutor. While he's currently an Assembly Member, Quart still remains involved in everyday cases such as personal injury, insurance defense, misdemeanors and summonses. Quart claims that this experience has given him a unique perspective as to how the justice system works for average New Yorkers. Quart is notably credited for challenging current Manhattan D.A. Cy Vance to reverse the illegal prohibition on certain folding pocket knives, which many argue have unfairly targeted blue-collar service employees who possess folding knives for work. Quart is seen as an incredibly progressive candidate who would also like to significantly cut the budget of the D.A.'s Office.
Learn more about his policies here: www.danquart.com
Diana Florence
Since joining the Manhattan D.A.'s Office in 1995, Florence became a former top deputy in current Manhattan D.A. Cy Vance’s office. Florence was eventually promoted to Head of the Construction Fraud Task Force, where she prosecuted developers and construction companies for defrauding workers and taxpayers. However, Florence left the position and D.A.'s office this past year after being accused of withholding evidence in one of her cases.
What Stands Out: Florence has spent almost her entire career working for the Manhattan D.A.'s Office. While Florence has significant ties to the current administration, she has voiced concerns that “the DA’s office has lost its way." As a former high-ranking prosecutor for Vance's office, Florence was involved in a number of cases such as organizations trying to defraud 9/11 charities, domestic violence, wage theft, but mainly construction cases regarding worker's rights. While she has apologized for withholding evidence, Florence claims that she resigned from the D.A.'s office due to a hostile work environment.
Learn more about her policies here: https://dianaforda.com/
Eliza Orlins
Upon graduating from law school, Orlins began her career working for the Manhattan Legal Aid Society. Since then, Orlins has spent over a decade as a public defender representing New Yorkers who would have had a tough time finding legal representation otherwise.
What Stands Out: Despite having no prosecutorial experience, Orlins has said her time at Legal Aid and as a public defender has given her the best understanding of how to positively implement change in the D.A.'s Office. Orlins has gone so far to say that prosecutorial experience shouldn't be highly valued as “Prosecutors have indiscriminately ruined lives, destroyed families, violated human rights and human dignity.” Orlins has represented over 3,000 New Yorkers and litigated in both New York State Supreme Court and New York State Criminal Court, sometimes clashing with current D.A. Cyrus Vance. Orlins has also stated that if elected, she plans to cut the D.A.'s Office budget by 50%.
Learn more about her policies here: https://elizaorlins.com/elizas-policies/
Liz Crotty
Crotty's career started out working for District Attorney Robert Morgenthau’s Investigation Division for two years on white-collar cases. She then spent 6 years working for the Manhattan D.A. as an Assistant District Attorney in the Trial Division and the Investigation Division before branching out to start her own private criminal law firm.
What Stands Out: Unlike her progressive competitors, Crotty describes herself as a "centrist" who doesn't believe that sweeping progressive changes need to be made to the criminal justice system. While almost every candidate has claimed to avoid prosecuting low-level offenses and misdemeanors where there is no concern for public safety, Crotty has said she'd still seek jail-time for such offenses if deemed necessary. Crotty is also one of the only candidates with experience as both a prosecutor and defense practitioner. Crotty claims her experience in both roles is crucial to the job of Manhattan D.A. as it has given her perspective on how both sides operate and what changes need to be made.
Learn more about his policies here: https://www.lizcrotty2021.com/
Lucy Lang
Like some of her competitors, Lang started her career working for the Manhattan D.A.'s Office working in a number of roles such as assistant D.A., special counsel for policy and projects, and executive director of the district attorney’s in-house think tank. After 12 years as a prosecutor for the Manhattan D.A., Lang left in 2018 to become the Executive Director at the Institute for Innovative Prosecution at John Jay College.
What Stands Out: Lang has spent the bulk of her career working for the Manhattan D.A.'s Office and a considerable amount of time under current D.A. Cy Vance. Lang claims this experience has given her a front row seat as to what changes need to be made. Lang, like many in the race, sees herself as a criminal justice reformer. Upon leaving the D.A. to work for John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s Institute for Innovation in Prosecution, Lang worked with district attorneys across America to introduce data-driven reforms to the criminal justice system.
Learn more about his policies here: https://www.votelucylang.com/
Tahanie Aboushi
A year after graduating law school, Aboushi founded her own law firm specializing in criminal and civil rights law. For over a decade Aboushi has worked as a civil rights attorney involved in criminal, civil and immigration law.
What Stands Out: A strong critic of current D.A. Vance, Aboushi believes that radical changes need to be made to the criminal justice system and D.A. Office. For example, Aboushi is of the belief that the D.A. Office's budget should be reduced by 50% in an attempt to "minimize the footprint (the Manhattan DA’s office has) on people's lives." Similar to her progressive competitors, Aboushi wants to flip the script on crimes traditionally prosecuted by decriminalizing acts like sex work, crimes involving mental illness and substance abuse. Aboushi would like to introduce an alternative-to-incarceration program for certain crimes in an attempt to reduce mass incarceration.
Learn more about his policies here: https://www.tahanieforda.com/
Tali Farhadian Weinstein
Farhadian Weinstien started out her career as a Law Clerk for Judge Merrick Garland at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and at the U.S. Supreme Court for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. She then worked at the U.S. Dept of Justice under the Obama administration serving as Counsel to Attorney General Eric Holder, before becoming a federal prosecutor. More recently, Farhadian Weinstien worked as general counsel to Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez for two years before stepping down to run for Manhattan D.A. She also works as an adjunct professor at NYU Law School.
What Stands Out: Farhadian Weinstien has substantial experience on both a national and city level, which she claims has equipped her well as she dealt with a bevy of issues such as gun violence, public corruption, tax and other types of fraud. Farhadian Weinstien considers herself to be a progressive candidate especially with regard to sentencing reform and review, where prisoners and attorneys could challenge lengthy sentences. She would also like to create change to domestic violence laws that she claims are in desperate need of change. Farhadian Weinstien also supports doing away with cash bail and giving judges the choice to jail defendants that they deem dangerous, a notion that is supported by the current D.A., but rejected by many criminal justice reform organizations. Farhadian Weinstien is also not outwardly critical of current D.A. Vance.
Learn more about her policies here: https://www.taliforda.com/