In an unusual move, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has announced a plan to take seized assets and give them to a Harlem-based nonprofit group focused on mental health.
According to Amsterdam News, Bragg is disbursing $6 million through his office's Criminal Justice Investment Initiative (CJII).
The money will be directed to an organization known as The Bridge as part of a plan to help it "provide peer services to key areas in the borough."
This will involve "Neighborhood Navigators" being tasked with finding people who are in need of mental health assistance as well as identifying barriers to them getting help.
Funds for the initiative are to be drawn from a $250 million pool of assets taken from major banks that have been prosecuted for financial crimes.
The News quoted a statement from Bragg that read, "By [addressing] fundamental needs like access to a safe home and mental health care, we can improve public safety in our communities."
"While New York has an extensive array of governmental and community-based service providers, individuals with the most deeply entrenched mental health issues often lack the trust in these systems to even try and access them," he continued.
"Meeting people where they are and building trust is the best way toward long-term solutions for these individuals and the communities in which they reside," the Manhattan district attorney insisted.
Sheryl Silver serves as The Bridge's senior vice president, and she put out a statement of her own, saying, "There’s no requirement for someone to come to any place that we are at. The idea is we are going to where they are."
"That’s where the relationship begins…it’s just trying to figure out what it is that has kept somebody from accessing the services and that’s not necessarily the same thing for everybody," she added.
His new funding initiative is far from being the only reason that Bragg has drawn attention in recent months, as he has also pursued criminal cases that critics say are politically motivated.
Bragg's office brought manslaughter charges last month against former Marine Daniel Penny over the subway choking death of Jordan Neely, someone who had a long history of violence against children and the elderly.
That led Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to suggest that by allowing Neely to remain on the street, Bragg was culpable for his death.
In 2015, Jordan Neely kidnapped a 7 year old girl
In 2019, Jordan Neely punched a 64 year old man in the face.
In 2021, Jordan Neely slugged a 67 year old woman in the face as she exited the subway, breaking her nose and fracturing her orbital bone.
Neely was arrested 44…
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) May 5, 2023
