Prosecutors demand changes to NY’s Raise the Age law as Hochul weighs proposals

ALBANY – State lawmakers must make changes to New York’s controversial “Raise the Age” law, district attorneys across the state argued Tuesday, pointing to disturbing uptick in youth violent crime.

But its not yet clear whether Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Democrat-controlled Legislatures will take up the plea as lawmakers return to Albany this week.

Hochul — who is set to lay out her 2026 policy agenda in her “State of the State” speech Jan. 13 — said in August that she was “willing to look at” Raise the Age, but has since remained mum about following through.

“New York State’s District Attorneys want to work with our legislature and our Governor to offer solutions that address some of the shortcomings in the law and also adequately tackle the rise in youth gun violence across our state,” Rensselaer County District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly told The Post.

“Any changes to Raise the Age should be consistent with the original intent of the law and should focus both on the rehabilitation of adolescent offenders and community safety,” Donnelly, who also serves as president of District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, said in a statement.

Hochul, who is up for re-election this year, would face some of the stiffest resistance she’s ever seen from over 200 criminal justice groups that have already formed a coalition to defend Raise the Age.

The controversial law, signed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, raises the age of criminal responsibility to 18, barring 16 and 17-year-olds from initially being tried in adult court, in most cases.

When Raise the Age was signed in 2017, New York was one of only two states that still automatically tried 16 and 17-year-olds as adults.

Now, kids of these ages face misdemeanors in family court. Felonies for kids of these ages are heard by a family court judge in criminal court and may be sent to family court entirely.

Backers of the law argued that the largest rise in youth crime in the Big Apple came from kids even younger than 16, meaning they wouldn’t have been able to have been tried as adults even before Raise the Age.

“Raise the Age is working as intended — keeping young people out of the adult system and reducing harm,” a spokesperson for The Coalition to Protect Raise The Age: Build Futures, Invest In Youth, told The Post.

“Since 2018, their share of felony and violent felony arrests has remained stable, even as overall arrest numbers have fluctuated, and youth reoffending rates are at or below pre–Raise the Age levels.”

Hochul has had several bruising fights with the state legislature over criminal justice issues in recent years.

Last year and in 2023 she secured tweaks to the discovery process for evidence presented at trial and won adjustments to the state’s 2018 bail reforms, respectively.

This year, Hochul has to contend with the threat of lawmakers endorsing her Democratic primary challenger, Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, who is running to her left.

State Sen. Jabari Brisport (D-Brooklyn), a democratic socialist and ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, became the first lawmaker to endorse Delgado this week.

Hochul will also be facing off against Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who has said he plans to tie her to the law and other criminal justice reforms.