Prostitution and crime choke Queens’ Roosevelt Avenue, and residents are fed up. Local leaders, alongside the Restore Roosevelt Avenue Coalition, are pressing FBI Director Kash Patel to unleash federal power on foreign gangs running brothels, trafficking women, and flooding the streets with drugs. Their plea: end this nightmare for families.
Fox News reported that the Roosevelt Avenue corridor, a two-mile stretch in Queens, has long been a magnet for crime, with brothels masquerading as massage parlors or hiding next to bodegas.
Despite the NYPD’s 350 prostitution-related arrests this year and a 90-day crackdown flooding the area with 200 extra officers, the problem persists. The coalition insists that only federal intervention can break the gangs’ grip.
Residents, led by figures like former state Sen. Hiram Monserrate, have staged multiple protests, including one on Aug. 24, 2025, outside a suspected brothel plastered with “Shut it down” signs.
They’ve pinpointed eight brothels—seven in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s district, one in Rep. Grace Meng’s—along with five street corners where sex workers openly solicit. The community’s message is clear: enough is enough.
“We are writing to your agency again, requesting an investigation,” the coalition wrote to Patel, decrying the “ever-worsening” crisis.
Their letter demands that federal racketeering and trafficking laws target the 18th Street gang, Tren de Aragua, and Chinese organized crime groups controlling the strip. These gangs, they claim, profit from human trafficking and fake green cards while terrorizing locals.
The coalition’s protests aren’t just noise—they’ve seen results. After their April letter to Patel, the FBI, alongside the DEA, arrested eight 18th Street gang members for brutal beatings and stabbings to maintain control. Yet, the coalition argues, new enforcers quickly filled the void, proving the need for a broader crackdown.
Rosa Sanchez, the coalition’s spokesperson, voiced the community’s pain at a recent rally. “The rampant prostitution we see on our streets 24 hours a day is hurting our children and families,” she said. Her words cut through progressive excuses, exposing the human cost of inaction.
Sanchez didn’t stop there. “There is no reason our children should witness women being forced to sell their bodies for traffickers’ profits,” she declared.
Her blunt rejection of decriminalizing sex work aims figures like mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani, whose support for such policies she called clueless.
Mamdani’s campaign dodged questions about his stance, leaving residents skeptical of his priorities. Meanwhile, the coalition praises NYPD’s efforts, including over 2,100 arrests and 20,560 summonses this year, but says state laws hamstring local police. Monserrate echoed this, urging federal action to tackle what local enforcement can’t.
“State laws do not give our local law enforcement the full range of options,” Monserrate said. He commended recent federal arrests but stressed the “mission is still incomplete.” His call for FBI intervention reflects a community desperate for lasting change.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, whose district bears the brunt of this crisis, has requested over $500,000 in federal funds for violence interruption and victim support programs. Critics argue this sidesteps the root issue: dismantling the gangs. Her approach feels like a Band-Aid on a broken leg.
Rep. Meng, also under pressure, told Fox News Digital she’s in constant contact with police and residents. “I have formally requested federal money to support local initiatives,” she said, flagging the coalition’s letter to the FBI. Her promise to secure funds for the NYPD sounds good, but residents want results, not rhetoric.
The FBI, when pressed, pointed to Assistant Director Christopher Raia’s comments after the 18th Street gang arrests but offered no direct response to the coalition’s latest plea.
This silence fuels frustration in a neighborhood where women openly solicit sex, even under heightened police presence. Fox News Digital counted 30 such women on one block earlier this year.
NYPD’s nuisance abatement laws have shuttered some brothels, but the process crawls through courts, leaving residents exposed.
The 18th Street gang’s tags still mark Roosevelt Avenue, a defiant middle finger to law enforcement. A gun and a fake U.S. passport seized during recent arrests only hint at the gangs’ reach.
The coalition’s fight is for a predominantly immigrant community yearning for safer streets. They’re not just battling brothels but a progressive agenda that seems blind to their reality. Sanchez’s rally cry against legalizing prostitution reflects a broader rejection of policies that normalize exploitation.
