New York has long been known as the place where you go to make it big—a city where you can come with nothing but moxie and pluck and work your way to the top.

Well, the city's leadership is apparently trying to broaden that shtick to cover violent criminals as well:

...Alvin Bragg, the newly elected Manhattan district attorney, sent out a memo to his staff on Monday directing prosecutors to not seek prison time for most criminals.

"This rule may be excepted only in extraordinary circumstances based on a holistic analysis of the facts, criminal history, victim's input (particularly in cases of violence or trauma), and any other information available," wrote Bragg in the memo obtained by the New York Post.

So, this is just for low-level crimes, right? Wrong! Bragg ordered prosecutors to charge armed robbers with petty larceny, which would have the effect of downgrading the maximum prison time from 25 years to one year. He also abolished life in prison without parole, even for the worst murderers and sex offenders. He further seeks to dramatically downgrade charges for certain residential burglars, drug dealers, and convicted criminals caught with weapons.

This may be hard for the kiddos to believe, but there was a brief period where New York City was actually a fairly safe place to be—where even the most rarefied, least street-smart individuals could walk around without being all that afraid of getting shot.

These days it is looking more and more like a bad parody of Grand Theft Auto III.

Some commentators, meanwhile, noted that this new policy will almost surely have a slightly depressive effect on the city's population:

Sorry, New York, but you kinda voted for this! Best of luck to you!

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