A group of influential Black New York leaders have condemned former Gov. Andrew Cuomo for criticizing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over his handling of Columbia University protest cases while “mysteriously” ignoring similar charging decisions by white prosecutors across the state.
The open letter — signed by New York NAACP President Hazel Dukes, former Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel, former state Controller Carl McCall and Lloyd Williams, president of the Harlem Chamber of Commerce — was sent Thursday in response to Cuomo’s recent op-ed criticizing Bragg published by The Forward.
Barry Williams for New York Daily News
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg (Barry Williams for New York Daily News)
In it, Cuomo suggested Gov. Hochul should weaken the DA’s prosecutorial powers and appoint a special prosecutor to investigate hate crimes.
“We were so surprised, disappointed and angered by your recent op-ed on antisemitism that singled-out for criticism Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, the first Black person to hold this prestigious position,” states the letter shared with the Daily News.
The authors are some of the same Black leaders who Cuomo looked to for support after he resigned in disgrace amid allegations he subjected almost a dozen young women to sexual misconduct — allegations Cuomo strongly denies. The letter writers nodded to those ties, stating, “We’ve worked together, broken bread together and fought side-by-side together on a range of critical issues.”
In his Monday op-ed, Cuomo, who’s widely believed to be weighing another run for office, accused Bragg of dismissing cases against pro-Palestinian protesters arrested for occupying Columbia’s Hamilton Hall on April 30 for ideological reasons or an unwillingness to try complex cases.
“[By] letting the cases lapse, Bragg’s office has sent the message at this time of increased antisemitic activity that those looking to instill fear in Jews by creating chaos and destruction can do so with reckless abandon,” Cuomo wrote.
Last month, Bragg’s office moved to dismiss 31 of 46 cases against students or staff at Columbia, Barnard College and Union Theological Seminary who participated in demos criticizing Israel’s war on Gaza. Prosecutors cited “extremely limited” surveillance footage that could not prove the accused damaged facilities or harmed anyone.
The letter writers noted that the DA is still prosecuting almost as many protest cases as he dropped, thwarted a planned terrorist attack on a synagogue in coordination with the NYPD, and prosecuted several cases involving antisemitism, including attacks on Israeli tourists and assaults on Jews wearing religious necklaces.
Lambasting Cuomo’s op-ed as “a craven replication of the worst, basest instincts of other self-serving politicians because of so much you got wrong,” the letter’s signees called out the ex-governor for taking the same tack as hard-liners around the country who have aggressively scapegoated the Bragg to bolster their political agendas.
They wrote that it was “curious” Cuomo “chose to focus on DA Bragg and DA Bragg alone” while white prosecutors in Suffolk and Westchester counties similarly dismissed a large number of cases against demonstrators who protested at Buffalo and Cornell universities.
“Singling out a Black district attorney with spurious allegations of antisemitism and stoking division between Black people and Jews only bolsters the equal-opportunity bigots who hate both groups,” reads the letter.
“For the good of the borough, the city, and the country, we won’t be silent if you take cheap shots against DA Bragg.”
Cuomo’s criticism of Bragg came after a steady drumbeat of attacks on the prosecutor, who has drawn conservatives’ wrath for going after Donald Trump. Cop union leaders have called him soft on crime. Meanwhile, the prosecutor has faced a deluge of death threats and hate mail, The News previously reported.
“They are longtime friends … but friends can disagree,” Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said of the letter writers.
“Our Jewish brothers and sisters are literally under attack and have always stood shoulder to shoulder with other groups when they were attacked, and they deserve protection, and for the law to be enforced,” he added.
A DA spokeswoman said in a statement, “It’s no surprise DA Bragg enjoys a groundswell of support based on his strong track record of reducing crime, fighting hate and standing up to antisemitism.”
Williams told The News that the letter addresses the misalignment between Cuomo’s political tactics and the decision to target Manhattan’s first Black DA.
“Not knowing what political direction Andrew truly wishes to go in, we recognized that he has been significantly courting the Black community by going to Black churches almost every week,” Williams said, “We felt it was particularly important to address what we felt was a low-blow attack on District Attorney Alvin Bragg.”
