Ex-NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly predicts that left-wing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is “here to stay” — despite renewed calls for his ouster prompted by San Francisco voters booting their progressive top prosecutor last week.
During a radio interview out Sunday, Kelly pointed out that New York does not hold recall elections, leaving Bragg’s future in the hands of Gov. Kathy Hochul, who he projected wouldn’t take the political risk.
“New York doesn’t have that capability. Only the governor can remove a district attorney, and that’s not going to happen,” Kelly explained to “The Cats Roundtable” host John Catsimatidis.
“I don’t think Governor Hochul is going to touch this, because it’s toxic as far as the politics are concerned,” the former Big Apple top cop said.
The governor, Kelly opined, would want to avoid facing the political blowback produced by showing the first black Manhattan DA the door.
“She doesn’t want to do anything that looks like she is upsetting any group or any constituents who would be upset with this,” he said. “I think Alvin Bragg, unfortunately, is here to stay, at least for the rest of his term.”
A rep for Bragg declined to comment. Spokespeople for Hochul didn’t return a request for comment.
Following Tuesday’s successful recall of far-left San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, New York Republican gubernatorial wannabes pledged that Bragg — whose progressive prosecutorial policies have repeatedly come under fire since he took office Jan. 1 — would be the next to be yanked if they are elected in November.
Bragg faced an online petition calling for his ouster in January for his policies to downgrade or not prosecute certain crimes. A month later, he walked back a pair of those policies amid the backlash.
Under Section 34 of the state Public Officers Law, the governor possesses the seldom-used power of removing a district attorney following a multi-step investigation that would be sent to her to review.
It would ultimately be up to the governor to weigh the evidence and decide if removal is warranted for any accused district attorney, county clerk or sheriff, former Monroe County District Attorney Donald Chesworth previously told The Post.
Hochul said earlier this year that she was “monitoring the situation” with Bragg’s controversial practices “very closely,” but has shown no indication she will take the audacious step of booting Bragg from his post.
Last week, Bragg insisted he hadn’t been following San Francisco’s high-profile recall election.
“I’m focused on New York City,” he told reporters at NYPD headquarters. “I’m focused on crime here.”
During his WABC Radio appearance, Kelly also ripped state lawmakers for declining to further reverse the controversial criminal justice reforms passed in 2019. He blamed Democrats’ reluctance to change the laws on “arrogance” created by the party’s large majorities in the state Senate and Assembly.
“Nothing is going to happen on bail reform … because of the arrogance of the state legislature,” the two-time police commissioner told Catsimatidis. “They have a supermajority, and they are sticking their finger in the eye of the public.”
A recent poll showed that 82% of voters said judges should be given more authority to hold more defendants on bail.
Kelly, a former President Bill Clinton administration official, also criticized President Biden’s immigration enforcement as overly lax, citing the clandestine migrant flights to Westchester first exposed by The Post as an example.
“The border is out of control,” the former top cop fumed. “Basically what we’re doing is waving [undocumented migrants] through. I don’t understand it. I don’t understand why we have these secret flights.
“This is disgraceful,” he added, “It takes seven years for somebody … to get accepted into the US. And here we have thousands upon thousands of people getting de facto residence and probably citizenship in this country. It’s totally totally outrageous, in my opinion.”