Local leaders in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s district in New York City have again asked FBI Director Kash Patel to finally put an end to what they describe as the “festering scourge” of brutal foreign gangs who are forcing women into prostitution and selling drugs in Queens.
In the last few weeks, the close-knit group has organized a number of rallies outside what they say are well-known brothels in the progressive champion’s district. They say that women ask for sex on the pavement outside before Johns rush inside.
The brothels are close to Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, which has been a crime-ridden, violent, and prostitution-ridden area for years. Because of this, the NYPD has tried to crack down on it several times, but it is still called a “red-light district.”
Police told Fox News Digital that they had detained 350 people this year for crimes related to prostitution in and near the troubled strip.
One brothel is hidden next to a bodega, and another pretends to be a massage parlor. At a recent protest on a Sunday, protesters put up “Shut it down” posters on the run-down door of the second brothel to ask the feds to get rid of the shady cathouses for good.
“We are writing to your agency again, requesting an investigation and enforcement action regarding the ever-worsening situation on the Roosevelt Avenue Corridor,” the Restore Roosevelt Avenue Coalition wrote in a recent letter to Patel. The group advocates for improving the quality of life and ensuring safer streets in the predominantly immigrant neighborhood.
In April, they wrote to Patel. A few weeks later, the FBI, along with the DEA and other agencies, detained eight people who were thought to be members of the vicious 18th Street gang. They were accused of carrying out severe beatings and stabbings to keep control of the strip.
The coalition claimed the arrests demonstrated that federal officials had heard their previous requests, but they argued that only a larger crackdown under federal racketeering and trafficking statutes could break up the networks that had been there for a long time.
They added that other 18th Street gang enforcers have taken their place and that the gang, along with Tren de Aragua and Chinese organized crime groups, controls the strip with an iron fist. They further say that the gangs are involved in human trafficking and giving out fraudulent green cards.
“The rampant prostitution that we see on our streets 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is having an adverse effect on the mental and spiritual health of our children and families,” Rosa Sanchez, the group’s spokesperson, said at last week’s rally. “There is no reason that our children should have to bear witness to the human tragedy of women being forced to sell their bodies for the profits of traffickers and pimps. It is happening in front of our homes. It must stop.”
A representative for Ocasio-Cortez stated that the congresswoman has asked the federal government for more than half a million dollars to help “nonprofits focused on violence interruption programs and support for victims of sex trafficking” in the area.
Meng told Fox News Digital that she talks to the police and locals about violence on a regular basis and that she was sending the group’s letter to the FBI. She also stated that she is trying to get federal money to help the NYPD fight crime along Roosevelt Avenue.
“I have formally requested federal money to support local initiatives and projects specifically requested by the NYPD that would provide them with more tools to combat crime in the area,” Meng said in a statement.