Rep. Malliotakis slams Manhattan D.A., but has high praise for Staten Island’s D.A. McMahon

Republicans in the House of Representatives made some noise this week about their distaste for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and one long-time critic, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn), was sure to weigh in.

As she has since he took office, Malliotakis criticized Bragg for crime in Manhattan following the House Judiciary Committee’s Monday hearing in lower Manhattan about crime in the city.

Throughout the hearing, the committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), paraded a series of crime victims, families of crime victims, and local officials who criticized the nation’s largest city as crime-ridden.

“This is a hearing I’ve been waiting for, because since I’ve gotten to Congress I have been very vocal about crime in New York City,” Malliotakis said. “The Democrats would have never had this type of hearing while they were in power.”

Malliotakis said Bragg spurred her legislation, called the “Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act,” and would have created public reporting requirements on their prosecutions for district attorneys as a way to hold them accountable.

The Staten Island congresswoman and her conservative colleagues have tried to paint a grim picture of the five boroughs. Their opponents say that despite the recent uptick, crime rates remain far lower than they used to be.

According to the city’s Compstat system, the numbers for most crime categories are down citywide compared to last year, and older NYPD data shows much higher rates of crime 30 years ago.

Murder, for example, has dropped almost 80% from 1993, and car thefts are almost down 90%, according to data from the NYPD. A Daily News analysis also found murder rates 73% higher in Jordan’s Ohio compared to Manhattan.

Democrats have also said the field hearing held Monday was less about Bragg’s general work and more about his prosecution of former President Donald Trump related to alleged hush money payments.

Bragg’s office charged the former president April 4 with 34 counts related to allegedly falsified business records prosecutors say were made to cover up Trump’s wrongdoings.

Malliotakis described the idea that the field hearing was meant to distract from Trump’s trial as “nonsense.” She also said she hadn’t “had an opportunity to examine those stats” when asked about the five boroughs having some of the lowest crime rates of any city in the nation.

Ahead of Monday’s committee field hearing, a Bragg spokesperson issued a statement pointing out that most major crimes, including murder, rape and robbery, are down in the first quarter of this year compared to the same time period last year, and said the uptick in crime — seen most acutely during the worst days of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic — began before Bragg even took office in 2021.

“Ending violence, stopping crime and supporting victims and their families are the most sacred duties of the Manhattan D.A.’s Office,” the spokesperson said. “For outside politicians to now appear in New York City on the taxpayer dime for a political stunt is a slap in the face to the dedicated NYPD officers, prosecutors, and other public servants who work tirelessly every day with facts and data to keep our home safe.”

The Staten Island congresswoman did have some kind words for Bragg’s local counterpart. She described District Attorney Michael McMahon as “definitely the best prosecutor in the city.”

For his part, McMahon, who’s up for re-election this year without a clear Republican challenger, took the comment in stride.

“I appreciate Congresswoman Malliotakis’ words of support for the work that we, in partnership with the men and women of the NYPD, do every day to keep the people of Staten Island safe through precision prosecution to hold lawbreakers accountable, innovative community crime prevention efforts, and when appropriate, offers of help to those suffering from mental health and addiction issues,” he said.