As Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez jets across the country on her "Fighting Oligarchy" tour, her constituents back in Queens, New York, are pleading for federal intervention to combat rampant crime in their neighborhood.
They claim their once peaceful community has been transformed into a lawless "gangland" overrun by illicit sex workers and drug dealers.
Local leaders, including former Democratic State Senator Hiram Monserrate, have penned a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel, imploring him to deploy federal agents to address the escalating crisis along Roosevelt Avenue. This two-mile commercial strip, now likened to a Third World country or a Red Light district, is reportedly rife with scantily-clad women soliciting sex on the streets.
The community leaders also allege that the ruthless 18th Street Gang has seized control of the illegal activities in the area, stepping into the vacuum left by other gangs like Tren de Aragua following a large-scale police operation that led to hundreds of arrests.
This police crackdown, dubbed "Operation Restore Roosevelt," began in October and involved a significant deployment of city and state troopers. According to Fox News Digital, the New York Police Department (NYPD) reported a 37% year-to-date decrease in crime in the Roosevelt Avenue area, with over 1,800 arrests and more than 15,000 summonses.
The local community and activists lauded New York City Mayor Eric Adams for initiating the aggressive 90-day police operation. However, they lament that the impact was fleeting, with bars quickly reverting to makeshift brothels where sexual services are easily negotiated in squalid rooms downstairs. Many of these sex workers, they claim, are migrants.
"The NYPDs Operation Restore Roosevelt did lead to arrests, but our street sources say the gangs replaced their foot soldiers within days," the advocates, including Monserrate, stated. "The money never stopped moving, the dance floors stayed open, and the prostitutes came back in full force. This isnt just a Queens problem, its a blueprint for how gangs, cartels, and traffickers can take over a community in plain sight."
The advocates argue that the gangs have transformed the seedy two-mile strip into a "well-oiled criminal machine," using Roosevelt Avenue as their marketplace. "Roosevelt Avenue doesnt just have a gang problem. It has become gangland," they declared.
The NYPD, however, has not corroborated the locals' claims about gang activity in the area.
Monserrate, along with the groups Restore Roosevelt Ave. and Neighbors of the American Triangle, have urged Patel to investigate the "ever-worsening situation" they are facing. They report that the 18th Street gang has marked their territory by tagging their gang insignia around the area.
Monserrate alleges that the gangs are involved in a range of serious crimes, including human and drug trafficking, illegal gun sales, identity theft, and distributing counterfeit Green Cards, as well as violent crimes. His sources have identified at least 20 brothels in the area, some of which operate near schools.
Despite the police crackdown, crime continues to plague the area. Earlier this week, a man was fatally stabbed when he tried to stop a thief from stealing his bike near a local subway station, according to police.
Monserrate provided Fox News Digital with a video allegedly showing 23 sex workers on a single block. In September, Fox News Digital cameras recorded a line of no fewer than 19 alleged sex workers on one block along Roosevelt Avenue, with at least seven more on the next block. One woman was reportedly soliciting sex for $60.
Ocasio-Cortez has not responded to multiple requests for comment from Fox News Digital regarding the situation along Roosevelt Avenue. She is slated to hold a town hall in the neighborhood on Saturday.
Representative Grace Meng, D-N.Y., whose district also encompasses the neighborhood, told Fox News Digital that she is closely engaged with the NYPDs ongoing efforts to improve public safety and quality of life in the area.
"I have confidence in the NYPDs commitment and capability to address these challenges, and I commend their sustained presence and work in the community," Meng stated. "As the top Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee responsible for funding for law enforcement agencies such as the NYPD and FBI, I will continue to advocate for the resources they need to protect residents in Queens."
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