With only about a month left until the Democratic primary, Manhattan district attorney candidate Tali Farhadian Weinstein is ramping up the focus on public safety.
In recent weeks, Farhadian Weinstein — a former federal prosecutor and a front-runner in the race — has devoted even more of her talking points to high crime rates, gun violence and other hot-button criminal justice issues during the political showdown.
“Part of why this phrase ‘progressive prosecutor’ has gotten so confusing — and maybe is even wearing out its welcome — is that the prosecutor part of it sometimes seems to be [lost],” she said. “When I listen to my colleagues in this race, there are like lots of really good ideas. But I feel like they’re running for a different job.”
The city logged more than 500 shooting victims between January and the second week in May — the most recorded during that same time period over the last 10 years, NYPD crime stats show.
“Any data that I have becomes [quickly obsolete] because of the way that things are moving,” Farhadian Weinstein said of the increasing number of shootings.
“We have to structure the institution of the DA’s office in a way that reflects our values,” she added. “And at the top of my list is gun trafficking. … We in New York enjoy some really excellent gun safety laws, unlike in other parts of the country. But the guns seep in, because of looser regulations. … Stemming the flow into the city has to be the starting point.
“This is about going past reacting incidents of violence [and] proactively [asking ourselves,] How are these guns getting here? What is the chain?… That’s what we have to be thinking about.”
The New York City primary election is on June 22, with early voting for registered voters starting June 12-20.
