NYC district attorneys will get $17M in new funding to beef up staffing, investigations: Adams
Adams highlighted the record-breaking $633 million total in funding for the five DAs and the office of the special narcotics prosecutor earmarked as part of the city's roughly $116 billion budget for the 2026 fiscal year, which was approved in June.
'I heard from all my DAs that we're having a real personnel issue,' Adams said from the City Hall rotunda alongside four of the district attorneys.
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'AI can never give way to a good ADA,' he quipped.
The boost adds to the $616 million previously allocated for the DAs and special narcotics prosecutor.
The district attorneys had said they desperately needed extra money in the already record-breaking fiscal plan — which Adams has dubbed the 'Best Budget Ever' — to hire and retain more prosecutors.
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3 Funding for district attorneys has increased 23% since the beginning of the Adams administration, according to city hall.
REUTERS
'They are the real law and order,' Adams said. 'They are front and center in dealing with public safety, and we are going to make sure we give them the resources to do their job.'
Bronx DA Darcel Clark said the new funding, of which her office is getting $6.08 million, will allow her overworked office to hire 24 new assistant district attorneys and to fully staff a Youth Justice Bureau to help address gun violence and recidivism among young people.
'These funds are a game changer for the criminal justice system,' Clark said.
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3 Bronx DA Darcel Clark said the money will be used to hire more prosecutors and to fully staff a youth diversion program.
James Messerschmidt
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, whose office is getting a $2.98 million boost, said the windfall will be a 'critical piece' of keeping assistant district attorneys on the job, 'in particular the mid-level prosecutors, those that are really carrying a very important part of our docket.'
'We have attrition in that area, so this will really help us with those ranks,' Bragg said.
Queens DA Melinda Katz was 'happy and grateful' for the extra $1.75 million her office was allocated to build a new crime lab to process digital evidence, she said.
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Staten Island DA Michael McMahon said his office was given $970,000 to hire more staff to deal with rising cyber crime.
'Just two days ago, a 76 year old woman scammed out of $209,000 — her lifetime savings — and it was through a cyber scam,' McMahon noted. 'This will allow all kinds of technological abilities to go after those who are taking advantage of too many.'
3 Staten Island DA Michael McMahon said his office will use the money on new technology to help prosecute cyber criminals.
Michael McWeeney
Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez couldn't make the news conference because of a planned vacation, Adams said, but his office is getting an extra $5.6 million to hire 20 new ADAs and six paralegals to reduce case backlogs and help meet discovery evidence requirements.
'A strong city is a safe city and that is why our city is strong right now. Because we focus on it being safe,' Adams said as he held up The Post's Tuesday front page about shootings in New York City hitting at an all-time low so far this year.
The Adams administration allocated the largest share of the $633 million — $180 million — to the Manhattan DA's office. Brooklyn received $157.9 million; the Bronx received $128.3 million; Queens received $108.1 million; Staten Island received $27 million; and the Special Narcotics Prosecutor's office received $31.7 million.
Adams held the press conference the day before revamped state discovery laws take effect.
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The new laws, which are designed to make discovery requirements less burdensome by reducing the scope of materials prosecutors have to provide, also came with more money from the state, McMahon said.
'We also received additional funding for discovery from the state, and working that with the money from the mayor today, that will allow our offices to have the tools and the resources and the personnel to get that voluminous (discovery) material,' McMahon said.
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