Hiram Monserrate (center) addresses the media on Tuesday. Photo: Shane O’Brien
Jan. 8, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
Several community advocates gathered in Jackson Heights Tuesday afternoon to demand answers from NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch regarding 14 alleged brothels and sex worker hotspots along Roosevelt Avenue.
Ramon Ramirez-Baez, president of the Let’s Improve Roosevelt Ave. coalition, former Council Member Hiram Monserrate, Council District 25 candidate Ramses Frias and other local advocates and residents gathered at the intersection of 83rd Street and Roosevelt Avenue, calling for a continuation of the Operation Restore Roosevelt multiagency initiative.
The 90-day police plan, launched in October by Mayor Eric Adams, is approaching its conclusion and aims to crack down on alleged criminal behavior, such as shoplifting and prostitution, taking place along Roosevelt Avenue.
Tuesday’s event took place just feet away from the NYPD Mobile Command Center at the intersection of 83rd Street and Roosevelt Avenue, with community advocates stating that sex workers are flagrantly soliciting sex at the entrance to the 82 St – Jackson Heights subway station, located just a block away from the command center.
Photo: Shane O’Brien
Monserrate told reporters that Operation Restore Roosevelt has had some success in addressing crime along Roosevelt Avenue but said more work needs to be done to crack down on alleged brothels in the area.
“The initiative has fallen short, and the fact remains that we’ve already identified 14 operating brothels and prostitution locations on the street,” Monserrate said. “We think it’s outrageous that this is still occurring with the amount of resources that have been placed here.”
Community advocates provided a map of all alleged brothels and prostitution hotspots in the area, stretching from 77th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in the west to 111th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in the east. They say they have video footage proving that the locations are brothels or places where sex workers have been regularly sighted.
A map of alleged brothel locations along Roosevelt Avenue. Photo: Let’s Improve Roosevelt Ave. Coalition.
Monserrate called on the NYPD to enforce padlock orders at all locations found to have offered prostitution services. Padlock orders, enforced by the city’s Padlock Unit, results in the padlocking of an establishment if the owners and occupants do not voluntarily discontinue illegal use. Entry into a padlocked area can result in arrest.
Monserrate said enforcing padlock orders would act as a deterrent to prostitution along Roosevelt by “sending a message” to any landlord who contemplates renting their property to an illegal business.
However, he said Roosevelt Avenue will always need “a little extra care” from the NYPD to ensure that prostitution does not return to the avenue, even if padlock orders are enforced.
A spokesperson for the NYPD said the police had used the city’s Nuisance Abatement Law to tackle issues on Roosevelt Avenue throughout 2024, resulting in more than 20 court-ordered closures along the avenue over the past 12 months. The spokesperson noted that the city has only lifted the closing orders when the landlord confirms that the offending tenant has been removed.
“The building owner is then required to enter into a settlement that enjoins further prostitution, which includes substantial penalties for the landlord in the event of a violation,” the NYPD spokesperson said. “In 2025 and beyond, the NYPD will continue to file nuisance abatement actions to prevent prostitution and other criminal activity in Queens and throughout the city.”
Ramirez-Baez and Monserrate also penned an open letter to Commissioner Tisch as part of Tuesday’s event, calling for the Roosevelt Avenue Corridor to be placed under the jurisdiction of a single police precinct. At present, the 110th and 115th Precincts share responsibility for Roosevelt Avenue.
The letter also called for information regarding the NYPD’s plans for Roosevelt Avenue once the 90-day Operation Restore Roosevelt comes to an end later in January.
It also demanded answers regarding several alleged brothels in the area that have been the subject of community protests in the past, including an alleged brothel at 98-17 Roosevelt Ave., which is located between two elementary schools – P.S. 19 and P.S. 307 – and saw around a dozen community advocates protest at the location at the beginning of October.
Monserrate and Ramirez-Baez also sought answers regarding an alleged brothel located at 50-14 111th St., across the street from the New York Hall of Science, and several other alleged brothels in the area. In each case, Monserrate and Ramirez-Baez questioned why the alleged brothels remained open and padlock orders had not been enforced despite community protests drawing attention to the issue.
Frias, who is challenging Council Member Shekar Krishnan in District 25 in the City Council elections later this year, said prostitution is a “daily issue” along Roosevelt Avenue and accused local elected officials, including Krishnan, Assembly Member Catalina Cruz and State Sen. Jessica Ramos, of “failing” their constituents.
“Things need to change,” Frias said. “Our elected officials are failing us on a regular basis.”
In a statement, Ramos said Operation Restore Roosevelt had failed to address a number of quality of life issues along Roosevelt Avenue and blamed Adams for implementing “performative policing” along the avenue instead of tackling human trafficking.
“It’s day 84 out of 90 promised days of an urgent and intensive public safety and quality of life operation, and what does the City have to show for it? It’s just performative policing,” Ramos said in a statement. “Trafficking is still rampant, we still lack trash cans, and the City hasn’t made meaningful vending reforms. We need traffickers who are praying on vulnerable people arrested and prosecuted, and we need basic city services delivered. That’s the job of the mayor and he’s failed.”
Adams spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said the Mayor has made addressing quality of life issues along Roosevelt Avenue a priority, stating that Operation Restore Roosevelt has resulted in the closure of a dozen illegal sex shops and brothels since October. The Adams administration has issued more than 6,700 summonses for health, sanitation, fire, building and other code violations since the initiative was launched as well as conducting outreach to over 180 local businesses and assisting over 80 people experiencing homelessness, Mamelak said.
“This work is noticeably improving life in the neighborhood — so much so that community groups have publicly called for us to extend the operation — while offering vital services to vulnerable populations in hopes of improving their lives. This operation is still ongoing, and we are committed to making sure these crime and quality-of-life issues continue to improve,” Mamelak said.
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