Community leaders in Queens are demanding urgent federal intervention after Roosevelt Avenue crime has turned the neighborhood into what they describe as a “gangland.” In an August 14 letter to FBI Director Kash Patel, Rosa Sanchez of the Restore Roosevelt Avenue Coalition and Democratic district leader Hiram Monserrate asked the agency to investigate foreign gangs engaged in human trafficking, drug sales, and fraudulent document distribution. They warned, “Organized crime by both Latino and Chinese foreign nationals continues to wreak havoc in our community.”
The activists stressed that local enforcement cannot solve the crisis. They cited Venezuelan-based Tren de Aragua and the 18th Street Gang, which extort brothels, sell drugs, and provide fake IDs tied to criminal networks in El Salvador. “However, both gangs continue to operate in our community and we impress upon you that more needs to be done to keep our community safe,” they wrote.
Chinese criminal groups, including the Triads, also run sex-trafficking operations along Roosevelt Avenue, with brothels openly operating between 80th and 84th Streets. Despite more than 500 prostitution-related arrests this year, activists say lawlessness thrives in what locals call “The Market of Sweethearts.”
Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa blamed negligent landlords for enabling the prostitution and trafficking industry. “The landlords openly and knowingly rent their establishments to houses of prostitution,” Sliwa said. He pledged to “padlock the buildings” and hold property owners accountable if elected.
In their appeal to federal authorities, Sanchez and Monserrate made their call for action plain: “We urge your agency to respond and rid our community of modern slavery and a dangerous criminal element that operates flagrantly.”
