Additional reporting by Reuven Blau and Yoav Gonen Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez is weighing a statewide campaign for attorney general if Letitia James leaves the seat to run for governor, eight people familiar with the matter told THE CITY. In recent weeks, they say, Gonzalez has been making calls to his top supporters and […]
Melinda Katz
Posted inCourts
A Young Prisoner’s Dilemma: Freedom or a Risky Shot at Clearing His Name
Prakash Churaman, behind bars since age 15 on a felony murder conviction, recently got a new trial and an offer from Queens prosecutors: plead guilty to a lesser charge and walk away at age 21 next summer. But he maintains his innocence, and is willing to risk getting sent away for 25 years to life. […]
Posted inJustice
City Scrambling to Get Electronic Monitors for New Bail Rules
Additional reporting by Christine Chung and Josefa Velasquez Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. When sweeping bail reform was passed last April, state lawmakers allowed for the use of some kind of electronic monitoring for defendants charged with certain felonies. […]
Posted inCourts
Key Bail Reform Support Program Is Still Months Away
Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. Sweeping bail reforms intended to keep most defendants out of jail before trial took effect Jan. 1, but a key de Blasio administration program to help them avoid trouble is months from launch, officials […]
Posted inPeople
Underdog Queens Republican DA Candidate Calls Himself the Anti-Progressive
Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. Joe Murray is no stranger to long odds. The 52-year-old defense lawyer is a former amateur boxer, and ex-cop who once broke the jaw of a fellow officer (who a friend said had been […]
Posted inQueens
Queens Candidates’ Life or Death Call for More Trauma Care
Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. This article was produced in partnership with The Trace. Candidates for Queens borough president are pledging to improve access to trauma centers after a data story published by The Trace, THE CITY and Measure […]
Posted inQueens
After Primary That Veered Left, Dem Stalwart Katz Lands in Progressive Camp
Sign up for THE CITY Scoop, our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, a longtime politician and member of the Queens Democratic Party, says she’s preparing to be a progressive prosecutor. She appears to be taking her cue from Tiffany Cabán, the […]
Posted inQueens
Tiffany Cabán Lost the Queens DA Race, But She’s Still Running
Sign up for THE CITY Scoop, our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. The insurgent Democrat has been busy giving speeches, attending local rallies — and pushing presidential candidates on their criminal justice reform plans. Meanwhile, she’s been keeping in touch with the likes of Elizabeth Warren […]
Posted inQueens
Who’s After Katz? Race for Queens Borough President Is On
With the Queens district attorney primary finally resolved, there’s a new — and potentially packed — race already on to replace Melinda Katz as borough president. Two Democrats — Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer and Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman — have established their candidacies, while up to six others are waiting in the wings. But Tiffany Cabán, […]
Posted inPeople
Katz Wins — Again — as Cabán Concedes in Queens DA Primary
Six weeks after the Queens district attorney Democratic primary, Tiffany Cabán officially conceded the race Tuesday night. Just hours after her team’s last-ditch effort to restore dozens of invalidated votes at a hearing in Forest Hills on Tuesday, the public defender addressed hundreds of backers at a beer garden in Astoria. With tears in her […]