Prostitution and illegal street vendors continue to operate on a notorious strip in New York represented by progressive Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Grace Meng.
The red lights are back flashing along a notorious prostitution strip in New York City represented by progressive Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Grace Meng.
Along the crammed, grimy sidewalks of Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, sex workers are once again openly soliciting clients while vendors grill meats and hawk suspected stolen or counterfeit goods – despite police waging a months-long crackdown to stop the chaos.
It’s become a way of life – and a years-long blight – for residents in the migrant-dense neighborhood who say they have grown tired of calling on Ocasio-Cortez and Meng to act and liken conditions to a “Red Light district” or a third-world flea market. Others have nicknamed the strip the “Avenue of the Sweethearts,” given its reputation for women purportedly turning tricks.
“All the criminal activity has reverted to the way it was last year,” Ramses Frias, a local activist and Republican City Council candidate, told Fox News Digital. “Our residents feel like prisoners in their own homes while criminals walk freely, preying on helpless victims.”
He said gangs like the 18th Street gang and Tren de Aragua are suspected of operating in the area since various spots are graffiti–tagged with their insignia.
Fox News Digital visited Roosevelt Avenue after Ocasio-Cortez’s town hall last month and witnessed as many as 30 women on one block appearing to offer sex for money to Friday night revelers while parents and children walked by.
The women were jostling men and enticing them for sex despite a visible police presence nearby. Most women operate on Meng’s side of the strip; the majority of vendors are on Ocasio-Cortez’s side, with their district border running through the center of the street.
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Hours before the town hall, other sidewalks were jammed with vendors flogging counterfeit Apple headphones and watches and tools. Food vendors sizzled meats at vendor stalls and kept juices in massive, unlabeled canisters under the gritty subway underpass – devoid of any labels or apparent sanitation or health and safety standards. Fruit and ice-cream stalls also permeated the busy strip.
Fox News Digital returned to the neighborhood on Friday and witnessed much of the same rampant prostitution and illegal vending. Additionally, several women were threading eyebrows along a sidewalk on a commercial street just off Roosevelt Avenue, while men were selling sneakers from cars and other food vendors were seen dumping wastewater down drains.
Residents have warned for months that Operation Restore Roosevelt – a 90-day enhanced police crime crackdown on the area which started in October – needed to be made permanent and that the warming weather would likely see more scantily-clad women appear on the streets.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry told Fox News Digital that the boots-on-the-ground operation, which consisted of more than 200 additional police officers, reduced crime by 29% in the area so far this year and significantly reduced criminal activity.
“There has been a notable difference,” Daughtry said. “Robberies are down 23%, felony assaults are down 33%, burglaries are down 47%, and grand larceny is down 30%.”
Daughtry said he wants the work to have “a real, lasting difference,” while saying that a lot still needs to be done. He said 15 brothels were raided out of 30 court filings made by the police.
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For instance, days after Ocasio-Cortez’s town hall, authorities shut down a notorious brothel, dubbed the “bodega brothel” near a school, without her help, according to local leaders. The closure was part of the ongoing efforts to address crime and quality-of-life issues in the area.
Local activists have accused Ocasio-Cortez and Meng of not doing enough to address the situation, as the problem persists despite the police crackdown. The ongoing issues have led to frustration among residents, many of whom feel that their concerns are not being adequately addressed by their representatives.
Residents Andrew Sokolof Diaz and John Szewczuk told Fox News Digital outside the event that the Roosevelt Avenue problem is a long-standing issue and that local lawmakers must do more to address it.
Resident Mark LaVergne pinned much of the blame on Ocasio-Cortez for not doing more and said he felt many of the women were likely trafficked into that murky underground world. He expressed concern for the individuals involved and emphasized the need for lawmakers to prioritize the well-being of their constituents.