Candidates for Manhattan DA debate at John Jay

The three candidates for Manhattan District Attorney debated last night at John Jay College. Leslie Crocker Snyder, a veteran of New York's toughest fights against crime in the 80s and 90s, pointed out that frontrunner Cyrus Vance was mostly living in Seattle during those years and portrayed herself as challenging the old boy's network perpetuated by the outgoing, long-serving DA, Robert Morganthau. In response, Vance accused Snyder of changing her position on the death penalty in order to garner votes and maintained that he had the character and beliefs required for the job. Richard Aborn, a gun control advocate, is positioning himself as the most liberal candidate and has the most policy/reform experience. All three candidates served as assistant district attorneys under Morganthau, who choose not to endorse his own "right hand man," Dan Castleman, because he believed only Vance had the name recognition to defeat Snyder, who challenged him in the last election.

NY1 has the complete video of the debate: click here.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Cy Vance was in the DA's office in Manhattan for most of the 1980s - not in Seattle. Leslie continues to distort his record bc she is desperate and going to lose. I fear her as DA.
Anonymous said…
Cy Vance had lived in Seattle for 17 of the last 21 years. His only qualification to be DA is his connections. He's wrong for New York and wrong for trying to exploit his father's name. Leslie Snyder is the only person with the qualifications and experience to run this office. I am thankful Leslie will win this election!
Thanks for the comments, I'm glad to hear what people think. I'm personally unsure who the best candidate is, although I'm interested in Richard Aborn, because he seems like the most innovation minded candidate. I won't get to vote in the Manhattan DA race, as I'm registered in Brooklyn. For me the most difficult choice (I'm still undecided) is for Controller, as there are several very good candidates competing.

For anyone who'd like to comment on this blog (please do!), I'd request that people sign their comments.
Anonymous said…
was turned off by vance and snyder's approach to the debate. aborn seemed to be the only candidate who wanted to discuss issues and not just attack the others.
Anonymous said…
Wasn't sure how I was going to vote, but Aborn really impressed me. I think he'd be good for the city.