S.F. may boot its DA, but Adams demurs on move

With a possible recall of San Francisco’s progressive district attorney looming Tuesday, Mayor Adams declined to give specifics when asked about the possibility of enacting a similar move in New York.

For weeks, Hizzoner has leveled criticisms at the courts and prosecutors for failing to more aggressively go after gun offenders, but he has refrained from calling out anyone by name — and that did not change on Tuesday.

“The people of the city will determine who’s on the same team as the men and women who are removing 3,000 guns,” he said, referring to the NYPD, which has removed close 3,000 guns from the streets so far this year. “The people of New York will determine that, and I’m very clear: I am placing our officers on the front line to remove dangerous guns off the street.”

As he’s taken credit for getting guns off the streets, Adams has also broadly slammed other parts of the criminal justice system for not doing their part.

His remarks Tuesday came hours after Republican gubernatorial candidate Andrew Giuliani promised to recall Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and other prosecutors if he’s elected.

Bragg, who stepped in as Manhattan DA in January, almost immediately drew criticism after issuing a memo that stated prosecutors shouldn’t bring armed robbery charges as long as the suspect “didn’t create a genuine risk of physical harm.” Instead, the memo recommended that prosecutors pursue petty larceny charges in such scenarios. Bragg later walked back parts of the memo.

The effort to recall San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin comes in the form of a referendum. In New York State, the governor has the power to recall prosecutors on her own. So far, Gov. Hochul has not attempted to wield that power, but Giuliani said Tuesday he wouldn’t hesitate to do so if elected.

“On day one of my administration, I will remove Alvin Bragg or any of the other 61 district attorneys in the State of New York who do not fail to faithfully execute their office,” he said. “I would love to see a recall.”

Adams did not call out any prosecutors specifically later on that day, but he continued to level attacks against the “bottlenecked” criminal justice system that he believes is leading more criminals to be released onto the streets.

“Every other apparatus in the criminal justice system should be in support of what [the police] are doing,” Adams said. “I don’t believe there is support if judges are not holding people accountable, if laws are not indicating those who are repeated offenders and violent are not being held accountable and if we have a bottlenecked criminal justice system.”