Roosevelt Avenue, a bustling thoroughfare in Queens, New York, has once more become a hotbed for illicit activities despite a concerted 90-day police operation to curb crime in the area. The strip, situated within the districts of Democratic Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Grace Meng, is witnessing a resurgence of sex work and illegal vending, casting a shadow over earlier law enforcement successes.
Local residents have likened the situation to a "third-world market," with the moniker "Avenue of the Sweethearts" highlighting its notoriety for prostitution. Ramses Frias, a Republican City Council candidate and community activist, lamented the regression to previous levels of criminality, expressing that the residents feel imprisoned in their own homes while criminals roam free.
The presence of gang activity is evident, with graffiti tags linked to the 18th Street gang and Tren de Aragua marking certain locales. A recent observation by Fox News Digital on a Friday evening revealed about 30 women ostensibly engaging in sex work, unabashedly soliciting passersby, even as nearby families with children strolled by. Notably, this occurred under the watchful eye of the police.
Illegal vending is rife on the sidewalks, with products ranging from counterfeit Apple merchandise to tools being sold. Food vendors also operate without apparent regard for health safety standards. Secondary inspections of the neighborhood corroborated the ongoing issues of prostitution and unlicensed vending.
The "Operation Restore Roosevelt" initiative, which began last October and saw the deployment of over 200 additional officers to the area, reported a 29 percent reduction in overall crime. Notable improvements included substantial drops in robberies, felony assaults, burglaries, and grand larcenies. NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry, while acknowledging these achievements, admitted that significant challenges remain.
During the operation, 30 court cases were filed, and 15 brothels shut down. One such brothel, the "bodega brothel," was located in proximity to two schools in Ocasio-Cortez's district. It featured five small rooms demarcated by wooden panels and shower curtains. The police also tackled brothels on Meng’s side of the avenue, with onlookers witnessing the arrests.
Frias, along with other local voices, has criticized Ocasio-Cortez for her perceived inaction, highlighting her failure to leverage her substantial social media presence to address the community's plight. Daughtry has also expressed a desire for greater involvement from both representatives, singling out Ocasio-Cortez for not reaching out to collaborate with law enforcement.
Amid this turmoil, a tweet from Dom Lucre, a social media personality, claimed a 70% surge in crime in the Bronx and Queens districts represented by Ocasio-Cortez since she assumed office in 2019. The tweet, which aligns with the narrative of increased crime under the "defund the police" congresswoman, adds fuel to the ongoing debate about safety and representative accountability in these communities.
