Council Women's Caucus Demands Manhattan DA Cy Vance Steps Down

MANHATTAN, NY — Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. is facing increased pressure to resign after the twelve members of the City Council's Women's Caucus called on the longtime prosecutor to step down Thursday.

The women's caucus released a joint statement Thursday citing Vance's repeated lenient treatment of high-profile men accused of sexual assault as grounds for his resignation. The demand echoed a recent call by New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

"Under DA Vance's leadership, the Manhattan DA's office, and specifically their Sex Crimes Unit

and Special Victims Bureau, failed to protect and fight for survivors against rich, white, and
powerful men who committed countless sexual assaults," members of the caucus wrote in a joint statement.

The statement cited the DA's cases against accused sexual predators such as Robert Hadden, Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein and Dominique Strauss-Khan as indicative of a pattern of letting powerful men off easy when it came to sex crimes allegations.

Under Vance's leadership, the Manhattan DA's office negotiated plea deals for Hadden and Epstein that sought no prison time and a reduced sex offender status to level 1 — the lowest possible level — lawmakers said. Hadden, a former Columbia University gynecologist, was accused of sexually abusing 50 of his patients, many of them pregnant women, during exams.

Evelyn Yang, the wife of presidential candidate Democrat Andrew Yang, announced in January that she was among dozens of women assaulted by Hadden.

In 2015, Vance declined to prosecute Weinstein — the disgraced media mogul currently facing rape and sex assault charges — after an Italian model said she'd been assaulted in a Manhattan hotel room.

"DA Vance must consider the damage his leadership has caused and resign so that the process of rebuilding trust with the community can begin. All New Yorkers deserve equal protection and treatment under the law, and right now no one believes that is what is happening here," the caucus' statement reads.

A spokesman for the DA's office said in a statement: "Earlier this week we invited the Women’s Caucus to come in, discuss their concerns, and learn more about our work. We hope they take us up on it."

In an invitation sent to members of the women's caucus Vance stated that his office prosecutes 600 adult sex abuse cases every year in addition to cases involving child sexual assault and sex trafficking. The prosecutors also cited his support for proposed legislation for stricter sexual abuse laws and funding of organizations that support survivors of sexual violence.

Vance, who has served as Manhattan's top prosecutor since 2010, is facing a number of challengers to his 2021 re-election. Manhattan State Assemblymember Dan Quart, former state prosecutor Alvin Bragg and civil rights lawyer Janos Marton have all announced their candidacy to lead the DA's office.