Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg emphasized that even though his team has lawyers, they also have professionals who can help victims with their cases.

“One thing I’m very proud of, during my tenure, our crisis intervention, the number of times we intervened to provide crisis services is up 500%,” he said about the office’s Survivors’ Services Bureau, which connects people with licensed social workers, advocates and other support.

Bragg joined NY1 political reporter Ayana Harry on “Inside City Hall,” in his first interview since the Donald Trump criminal trial began, about hate crimes in Manhattan, ghost guns and the Columbia University protests. 

He said there has been an increase in hate crimes based on race, gender and sexual orientation, especially after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in Israel.

“The team is hard at work. We have a team of great trained prosecutors, supported by paralegals, analysts and we mentioned our Survivors’ Services Bureau,” Bragg said.

Colleges across the city, such as Columbia University and New York University, have protested in response to the Israel-Hamas war.

“We want everyone to be able to peacefully protest. [It’s] the bedrock principle of this country. We also want people, whether it’s a college campus or other communities, to be safe,” Bragg said.