Embattled Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg reversed a pair of his most controversial policies in writing on Friday with a new memo calling for commercial robberies committed with knives to once again be prosecuted as felonies.
Bragg’s memo to staff also said that holding up a store or other business with a firearm “will be charged as a felony, whether or not the gun is operable, loaded, or a realistic imitation.”
The moves followed widespread outrage at the soft-on-crime directives that Bragg issued to Manhattan prosecutors in a stunning “Day One” memo — exposed by The Post — just after he took office Jan. 1.
In the follow-up memo to his staff Friday, Bragg, a Democrat, said he wanted to “memorialize the key elements that I conveyed in our office-wide meeting on January 20.”
“A commercial robbery at knifepoint, or by other weapon that creates a risk of physical harm, will be charged as a felony,” he wrote.
“In retail thefts that do not involve a risk of physical harm, the Office will continue to assess the charges based on all of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances presented.”
The walk-back — which Bragg characterized as adding “clarity” to his controversial “Day One” memo — marked the second time he’s reversed some of its soft-on-crime provisions.
Just one day after The Post revealed his progressive agenda, Bragg’s office said it would prosecute armed robberies of stores and other businesses with guns as felonies.
His Jan. 3 memo said that offense would be treated as petty larceny, a misdemeanor, as long as no victims were seriously wounded and there was no “genuine risk of physical harm” to anyone.