AOC ripped as her NYC district is overrun by 'Market of Sweethearts'

New York Post

5 days ago

Queens residents, merchants and civic leaders blasted US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for being missing in action in the fight to clean up the infamous 'Market of Sweethearts'.
Locals along the Roosevelt Avenue corridor have begged for help as the area has been plagued by rampant prostitution and illegal street vendors — fueled in part by gangs who got a foothold in the area due to the city's migrant crisis.
'I have not personally seen Ocasio-Cortez since she's been elected. I have not seen her in the community,' said Rosa Sanchez, president of the Restore Roosevelt Avenue Coalition. 'I have seen her in a parade — that's it.'
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4 Queens residents and local leaders blasted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for not working to clean up the infamous 'Market of Sweethearts' and other issues in her district.
REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
Part of the avenue is in the heart of the district that the high-profile Democrat represents in the US House of Representatives, while part of the neighborhood crosses into Rep. Grace Meng's district.
Despite efforts of the NYPD and the city to clean up the troubled corridor, illegal vendors and merchants still have a foothold — sometimes peddling items stolen from local stores, locals said. Sanchez said the unlicensed vendors are putting legitimate merchants out of business while young women forced into sex work who are getting no help from politicians.
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'You have young women held against their will. They're being sex trafficked. This is not normal,' said Sanchez. 'Our community is suffering.'
Mauricio Zamora, head of the Neighbors of the American Triangle, said AOC has 'never' been helpful on the area's biggest problems as residents and businesses try to take Roosevelt back.
Zamora met with Ocasio-Cortez last Friday about the illegal vending in Corona Plaza but he claimed the congresswoman said larger crime issues should be addressed by the mayor's office, the NYPD and city elected officials rather than her office.
By comparison, Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres has led the charge and personally called on Mayor Eric Adams to clean up a notorious open-air drug market full of junkies and prostitutes in his district in the Bronx, called The Hub.
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4 Alleged sex workers seen on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens in the 'Market of Sweethearts' on July 27, 2025.
New York Post
The Post visited the Roosevelt Avenue neighborhoods again on Sunday — and immediately spotted prostitutes under the elevated No. 7 subway line.
Twenty three residents and local merchants told a reporter they have never seen AOC in the neighborhood.
'No, I have never seen AOC here. I've seen the local city councilman [Francisco Moya]. I've seen the police. I've never seen AOC,' said Jenny Leo, 54, a pharmacist at Mi. Farmacia at 90-15 Roosevelt Ave.
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4 Illegal vendors on the sidewalk on 91st St. near Roosevelt Ave. in Queens on July 27, 2025.
New York Post
Leo said the situation along Roosevelt is 'not getting worse but it's not getting better either' after the police launched a targeted crackdown in the area for 90 days, part of Operation Restore Roosevelt.
It's been a familiar story, with illegal vendors flooding the streets again about two weeks ago after the surge of law enforcement tapers off.
David Ortega, 50, manager of nearby Bravo Supermarket, said little has changed.
'People are stealing meat and beer and laundry detergent. The police come and they take them outside,' Ortega said.
4 The street vendors often sell items shoplifted from local stores, according to residents.
New York Post
'Two times recently the thieves tell me that they're going to wait for me when I leave. They're not afraid. It is not changing. It is the same.'
Through it all, he said AOC 'doesn't come here.'
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Local leaders sent letters to the Trump administration asking the FBI and Homeland Security to intervene and break up the migrant gangs and lawlessness on Roosevelt Avenue.
Last month, the feds charged a gang of illegal migrants with extorting brothels, beating up rivals and selling drugs and phony IDs along Roosevelt Avenue to finance an illicit network based in El Salvador.
Much more needs to be done and residents in the corridor could use AOC's help, said former Councilman Hiram Monserrate — a neighborhood activist who used to rep the area and resides in East Elmhurst.
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'We want our Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to use her platform to bring in more police officers to stabilize the area. We want our community back,' Monserrate said.
Monserrate said the NYPD put a dent in the lawlessness during its 90-day Operation Restore Roosevelt operation. But the department scaled back its presence after the surge, he said.
Crime dropped 28% amid beefed up police enforcement, the mayor said last month.
Gov. Kathy Hochul last fall also dispatched 100 state troopers to assist the NYPD along Roosevelt.
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'We need them back,' Monserrate said, referring to a larger police presence.
Ocasio-Cortez's rep on Sunday defended her advocacy to improve the quality of life along Roosevelt Avenue in Corona-East Elmhurst, particularly citing a meeting the congresswoman attended with constituents last Friday about the proliferation of vendors in and around Corona Plaza.
'The congresswoman is focused on solutions not credit. She has done multiple cleanups of the plaza on the other side, and on the official side has worked with DOT to fix street lights and improve sanitation,' said Ocasio-Cortez congressional spokeswoman Karla Santillan.
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She referred The Post to AOC's statement on X about the meeting.
'Happy to be back in Corona Plaza to continue our team's conversations with vendors and local business owners about our coordinated efforts to make Roosevelt Avenue a safer and cleaner place,' Ocasio-Cortez said.