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City business honchos grilled Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a virtual meeting Friday — with some blaming his soft-on-crime policies for contributing to fears that the Big Apple is growing unsafe.
Joe Ucuzogly, CEO of Deloitt USA, said his company’s employees are shaken after senior manager Michelle Go was killed when she was randomly pushed into the path of an oncoming subway train in Times Square less than a week ago, sources said.
Ucuzogly asked the DA if the city will be working to make the subways safer, sources said.
A retailer also told Bragg that crime is so bad in New York City that he’s installing the same type of security here that is used in his stores in violence-wracked Caracas, Venezuela, sources said.
“The tone is [New York City] is lawless, and his memo empowers lawlessness,” a caller said, referring to the memorandum Bragg recently issued directing his office to take a lenient approach to prosecutions by dropping some misdemeanor cases and not seeking bail or prison time in a host of others.
In the roughly hourlong meeting with Bragg and the lobbying group Partnership for New York City, about 30 people spoke — with many saying they and their employees were scared as concerns mount that the city is heading in the wrong direction.
Speakers flung questions at Bragg, who has been under scrutiny since taking office for what critics say is a lenient approach to prosecutions that keeps dangerous criminals on the street.
Many of the business leaders focused on concerns about a spate of violence in the transit system, calling safety on the subways a bigger concern than COVID-19.
Kathryn Wylde, CEO of Partnership, described the discussion as “a good exchange” among the roughly 75 people on the Zoom call.
“They expressed their concerns about the deterioration of safety in the city, in the subways,” Wylde told The Post.
“They really needed to be reassured that Bragg is going to work with the mayor and the police department to deal with the issues of crime and public safety.”
Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of private equity company Blackstone, said it was difficult to get people to come back to work in person “unless they feel safe, and they don’t feel safe.”
Bragg told the group that his office won’t tolerate violent crime, violence against police officers and gun possession. But the DA didn’t back away from his theme of social justice, saying that must be balanced with public safety.
Someone in the meeting asked if Bragg would prosecute if he was hit in the head with a baseball bat. Bragg said yes, that’s a violent felony.
A source close to Bragg categorized the discussion as “candid and constructive” and said the DA looks forward to continuing the shared dialogue on the goal of making New Yorker safer. Bragg reportedly wants to meet with the group regularly.
Since issuing the memo, Bragg has said he should have offered more context to it to have smoothed out what has been a shaky first few weeks on the job.
Friday’s discussion was called by the Partnership because of ongoing member concerns.
Participants included representatives of some of the biggest companies that operate in New York City, as well as leaders in retail, real estate, tourism and small businesses, according to sources.
Wylde said the DA provided “a lot of reassurance” about a focus on gun violence and would prosecute armed robbery as a felony.
“I think everyone thought it was a good conversation, they want to see how he follows through,” she said. “But it relieved a lot of anxiety.”
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