Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will tell you that her hometown district of Queens, NY is the epitome of working class Americans and is made up of struggling Americans just trying to make an honest buck.
But shocking footage from AOC’s home base tells a much different story. A story that includes rampant prostitution, open-air brothels, and illegal merchandising.
It’s the kind of environment even AOC’s fellow Democrats want to crack down on. But AOC’s minions are having none of it.
Check this out.
Earlier this week, a Democratic politician named Hiram Monserrate was chased out of a public square in Queens because he backs a recent police crackdown on illegal sex work consuming the area.
Monserrate, a former New York state Senator who is running for state Assembly, was giving interviews to the media praising the police when he met by raging protesters who had been holding a rally calling for the NYPD and state troopers to stop shutting down brothels – as well as illegal street vendors who sell hot food and flog other merchandise without permits.
War on Roosevelt Avenue: Sex workers push back as NYPD, City Hall cracks down on prostitution and illegal vendors in Queens | amNewYork https://t.co/YBbCgmECot
— Blue Lives Matter (@RetiredNYCPD) October 23, 2024
The Queens neighborhood is well known as a “Red Light” district, with many residents comparing the unsanitary and seedy conditions to a “Third World” country.
🚨NEW- AOC's District Descends into Third-World Conditions as Prostitution and Illegal Vendors Thrive📍Queens, NY |
Parts of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's district have been likened to a "Third World" environment, marred by the proliferation of illegal vendors and rampant… pic.twitter.com/Iqppp9eRfP
— Overton (@overton_news) March 16, 2024
According to the protestors, they say residents need to “accept” prostitution and vendors as a way of life in the neighborhood.
Are you kidding me?
“Sex work is work. We are your neighbors. Our lives are not disposable materials for your political campaigns. Let’s work together to protect each other,” Fran Yu from the sex workers’ rights group Red Canary Song, said.
During the disturbance, Monserrate attempted to move on, but Mateo Guerrero – who had been directing the rally for a local migrant nonprofit and later called for sex workers and residents to coexist – began getting in Monserrate’s face.
The group chased after and heckled Monserrate, who at first walked to the front of a store and then turned around and made his way through the outskirts of the square.
Guerrero continued roaring while demonstrator Biney Garcia got in front of Monserrate holding a sign reading, “Do not decide for sex workers” while wearing a nonprofit’s T-shirt with “Here to stay” written on the back.
“You are against me, against my community and you have been doing that for many years,” said Garcia, who previously worked as a sex worker on Roosevelt Avenue, which has garnered the nickname “Avenue of the Sweethearts” due to the number of sex workers who line the streets there.
The policing campaign called “Operation Restore Roosevelt” aims to address public safety in the deteriorating area under AOC’s perview.
“We’re not leaving until we shut down every single one of these illegal brothels and massage parlors,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said.
Authorities say they are responding to neighborhood complaints that sex work makes the area seedy and unsafe, and unlicensed street vendors infringe on public space and make it hard for brick-and-mortar businesses to thrive.
“There’s a multitude of violations inside of this location. That’s why it’s important for us as NYPD to partner with our brother and sister agencies, because the NYPD can’t write summonses for this, but the fire department can,” Daughtry said.
Prostitution is illegal in New York. Earlier this year, the NYPD raided six establishments in the area allegedly engaged in prostitution, which were issued closing orders.