Frustration with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is boiling over in her home district, as residents in Queens and the Bronx express growing resentment over what they see as her self-centered, high-profile political style that leaves local concerns neglected.
Constituents told the New York Post they’re fed up with what they describe as lackluster service from her district offices, which receive $1.9 million in taxpayer funding. One office is open only on a single weekday, while the other is closed on Fridays. Phones frequently go unanswered, and residents are often told to make appointments just to discuss their issues.
Ocasio-Cortez’s town halls, once held monthly, have become rare. When they do happen, locals say it’s nearly impossible to ask a question, and at times she doesn’t even attend in person, opting instead to call in, leaving many constituents feeling ignored and disrespected, The Post reported.
“This woman has done nothing for the community she was once again elected to serve. Now she can’t be a Congresswoman because she’s too busy?” Lauro Vazquez of Woodside, Queens, told the outlet.
Vazquez noted a common sentiment shared throughout AOC’s bi-borough district, that the everyday concerns of constituents, such as jobs, public safety, and traffic, are treated as secondary by a representative more focused on her national profile.
That perception became reality last week at a town hall in Jackson Heights, where Ocasio-Cortez gave a packed auditorium less than an hour of attention before abruptly exiting to a waiting SUV. During the event, she only took six questions, The Post reported.
The public meeting had already been rescheduled from its original date after the congresswoman fell ill following the conclusion of her nationwide “Fighting the Oligarchy” tour alongside Bernie Sanders.
“Of course, it’s cancelled — too busy jet setting around on private jets screaming about ‘oligarchs’ and setting up her bid for a POTUS run,” Vazquez told The Post. “This woman has done nothing for the community she was once again elected to serve.”
“It’s hard to find a private plane – it’s Easter weekend,” Jackson Heights resident Tatiana Lacatus mockingly said of the cancelled event. “She is too big for us.”
Elmhurst’s Ramses Frias, a Republican City Council candidate, referred to Ocasio-Cortez as an “absentee landlord,” stating that she is disconnected from the realities of her working-class constituents.
“She’s flying around on private jets, talking about the oligarchy, which is not really resonating with the regular guy – the person going shopping over here at the supermarket,” he said with a heavy dose of sarcasm, adding: “She’s a rock star.”
On all types if issues, both big and small, The Post noted, critics in Ocasio-Cortez’s district, which includes Astoria and Jackson Heights in Queens, as well as the South Bronx, say she is falling short in serving the very people who elected her.
Critics argue that Ocasio-Cortez is quick to jump on high-profile issues, especially those outside her district, while neglecting urgent concerns at home, so long as they suit her agenda, The Post noted.
In 2021, she made national headlines for briefly volunteering at a Houston food bank and helping raise over $5 million for Texans impacted by devastating winter storms. Meanwhile, some of her own constituents say she did little to support New Yorkers grappling with the aftermath of Hurricane Ida and the ongoing effects of the pandemic that same year.
More recently, Ocasio-Cortez has been accused of offering only token responses after the Trump administration announced the cancellation of $200 million in grants for climate-resilience “cloudburst projects,” which were designed to help flood-prone areas—some of them in Queens—better manage heavy rainfall.
In March, she vocally supported Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who is not her constituent, after the anti-Israel activist was arrested and detained.
“She will help if it gets her name on national issues,” Jackson Heights’ Gloria Contreras noted to The Post. “She’s about her and getting worldwide attention while ignoring her constituents.”