Public Safety & Justice Reviewed 2026-08-22
New York City's five district attorneys, one per borough
New York City has 5 separately elected district attorneys, one for each of its five counties, plus a sixth prosecutor appointed jointly by all five to handle felony narcotics cases citywide. Manhattan's Alvin Bragg is the 37th person elected to that county's office, one of only four in the past 80 years; a vacancy in any of the five is filled by the governor by appointment, not by the other DAs, until the next general election held at least three months later.
The numbers that matter
- The five offices
- New York County (Manhattan), Kings County (Brooklyn), Queens County, Bronx County, and Richmond County (Staten Island): one district attorney elected in and by each (County Law section 400(1), accessed via nysenate.gov, read August 2026)
- What each one prosecutes
- All crimes and offenses cognizable by the courts of the county for which that district attorney was elected or appointed (County Law section 700(1), accessed via nysenate.gov, read August 2026)
- If the office falls vacant
- The governor fills a district attorney vacancy by appointment; a successor is elected at the next general election, held no less than three months after the vacancy occurs (County Law section 400(7), accessed via nysenate.gov, read August 2026)
- Manhattan's count
- Alvin Bragg is the 37th District Attorney elected in Manhattan (Manhattan District Attorney's Office, Meet Alvin Bragg, read August 2026)
- The reelection pattern in the Bronx
- Darcel Clark became the 13th District Attorney for Bronx County on January 1, 2016, and was reelected to a third term in November 2023 (Office of the Bronx District Attorney, District Attorney's Biography, read August 2026)
Five counties, five separate elections
There is no single citywide district attorney. New York City's five boroughs are, for this purpose, five counties (see why New York City has five boroughs), and state law treats a district attorney the same way it treats a sheriff or a county clerk: a county-level office, elected only by that county's own voters.
There shall be elected a sheriff, county clerk, district attorney and county treasurer.
The same sentence that creates the sheriff and the county clerk creates the district attorney. A Manhattan voter has no vote in who prosecutes crime in Brooklyn, and vice versa.
Each county's office keeps its county's formal name rather than its borough nickname. Staten Island's is a case in point:
OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY RICHMOND COUNTY
Richmond County is Staten Island's legal name, the same way Brooklyn is Kings County and Manhattan is New York County.
What happens when a case crosses county lines
Jurisdiction follows the county where the case was charged, even if the trial itself has to move:
it shall be the duty of every district attorney to conduct all prosecutions for crimes and offenses cognizable by the courts of the county for which he or she shall have been elected or appointed; except when the place of trial of an indictment is changed from one county to another, it shall be the duty of the district attorney of the county where the indictment is found to conduct the trial of the indictment so removed, and it shall be the duty of the district attorney of the county to which such trial is changed to assist in such trial upon the request of the district attorney of the county where the indictment was found.
A change of venue does not hand the case to the new county's own DA. The original county's prosecutor keeps running it and simply travels; the host county's office is only obligated to assist if asked.
If a seat falls vacant
None of the five DAs answers to any of the other four, and none of them fills a vacancy in a neighboring office either. That power sits with the state's chief executive.
a vacancy in an elective county office, shall be filled by the governor by appointment ... it shall be filled for a full term at the next general election held not less than three months after such vacancy occurs
An appointed district attorney serves only as a placeholder. The seat still goes back to that county's own voters at the next general election at least three months out.
Four-year terms, one seat at a time
Each office is on its own election clock, but the current holders all show the same rhythm: elected, then reelected roughly every four years, turning over rarely.
Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. is the 37th District Attorney elected in Manhattan.
Alvin Bragg was overwhelmingly elected Manhattan District Attorney, becoming only the fourth person elected to this office in 80 years.
Thirty-seven elected district attorneys since the office was created, but only four different people among the most recent 80 years of them: long tenures, not a revolving door.
District Attorney Eric Gonzalez made history in 2017 as the first Latino District Attorney ever elected in New York State. ... Re-elected in 2021 and 2025
Melinda Katz became the Queens County District Attorney in January 2020, making history as the first woman elected to the office. She was re-elected to a second term in November 2023.
Darcel Denise Clark became the 13th District Attorney for Bronx County on January 1, 2016. She is the first woman in that position and the first African-American woman to be elected a District Attorney in New York State. She was re-elected to her third term in November 2023.
Thirteenth in a line going back to the county's founding. Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan's current district attorneys were all first elected within a few years of each other and have each won reelection since.
The sixth prosecutor: felony narcotics, citywide
One prosecutorial office in New York City is not tied to a single county at all. The Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York handles felony narcotics cases that can span the five boroughs, with jurisdiction reaching all of them at once rather than stopping at a county line the way each district attorney's does.
The position is not on the ballot. The five elected district attorneys jointly appoint the special narcotics prosecutor, who then runs a separate staff of assistant prosecutors dedicated to narcotics cases that the county offices refer up or that cross county lines on their own. It is the one prosecutorial post in the city that answers to all five DAs at once instead of to a single county's voters.
The questions New Yorkers actually ask
How many district attorneys does New York City have?
Five elected ones, one for each of the city's five counties (New York, Kings, Queens, Bronx, and Richmond, matching Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island), plus a sixth, the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, who is appointed jointly by the five rather than elected and handles felony narcotics cases across all five boroughs.
How are New York City's district attorneys elected?
Separately and independently, one per county. A voter in Manhattan (New York County) only votes for the New York County district attorney, not for the district attorneys of Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, or Staten Island.
What happens if a New York City district attorney's office becomes vacant?
The governor fills the vacancy by appointment. Under County Law section 400(7), the seat then goes to the county's own voters at the next general election, held no less than three months after the vacancy occurred; the appointee serves only until that election.
Can one county's district attorney prosecute a case in another county?
Only in a narrow circumstance. If the venue of a trial is moved from one county to another, County Law section 700 requires the original county's district attorney to keep running the case, and requires the host county's district attorney to assist only if asked. Jurisdiction otherwise stays with the county where the crime is chargeable.
Who is the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York?
A citywide prosecutor who handles felony narcotics cases across all five boroughs, appointed jointly by the five elected district attorneys rather than elected. The office runs its own staff of assistant prosecutors alongside, not inside, the five county offices.
The documents
The public records this page draws on. Read them yourself:
- County Law Article 8, Section 400: Officers; manner of selection; term; vacancies
- County Law Article 18, Section 700: District attorney; powers and duties
- Meet Alvin Bragg (Manhattan District Attorney's Office)
- About the Office (Manhattan District Attorney's Office)
- Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez (biography)
- Leadership Team (Queens County District Attorney's Office)
- District Attorney's Biography (Office of the Bronx District Attorney)
- Who We Are (Office of the District Attorney, Richmond County)
Now watch the machinery move.
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