NEW YORK – Local leaders in New York City Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s district have again called on FBI Director Kash Patel to finally crush what they call the festering scourge of ruthless foreign gangs pimping women in brothels and pumping drugs into the Queens neighborhood.
The tight-knit group has held several separate protests in recent weeks outside what they said are well-known brothels in the progressive champion’s district, where women allegedly solicit sex on the sidewalk outside before Johns scurry inside.
The brothels are located near the troubled Roosevelt Avenue corridor in Queens, a two-mile commercial strip which has been plagued with crime, prostitution and violence for years, so much so that it’s often referred to as a red-light district despite repeated crackdowns by the NYPD. Police told Fox News Digital they’ve arrested 350 people so far this year for prostitution-related offenses in and around the beleaguered strip.
Former state Sen. Hiram Monserrate, center in suit, stands with residents during an Aug. 24, 2025, protest outside an alleged brothel on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, N.Y. Demonstrators held signs calling on federal authorities to crack down on prostitution and trafficking in the neighborhood. (Courtesy of Hiram Monserrate)
A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez said that the congresswoman has requested more than half a million dollars in federal funding for “nonprofits focused on violence interruption programs and support for victims of sex trafficking” in the area.
Meng told Fox News Digital that she is in regular contact with police and residents about the crime situation and said she was flagging the group’s letter to the FBI, adding that she too is seeking federal funds to help the NYPD combat crime along Roosevelt Avenue.
“I have formally requested federal money to support local initiatives and projects specifically requested by the NYPD that would provide them with more tools to combat crime in the area,” Meng said in a statement.
The FBI did not specifically address the letter when contacted by Fox News Digital and instead pointed to comments made by FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher Raia following the 18th Street gang arrests, where Raia said the agency would continue to dedicate resources to crushing violent crime and transnational gangs in communities.
Fox News Digital witnessed at least 30 women appearing to solicit sex on one block on the strip earlier this year following Ocasio-Cortez’s town hall.
The NYPD launched a 90-day crackdown in October, flooding the neighborhood with more than 200 extra officers. That effort continued this year with more than 2,100 arrests and 20,560 summonses issued, police said, noting that major crime citywide is down 4.7% this year.
Police said they’ve used nuisance abatement law to shutter several brothels along Roosevelt Avenue, but they said the process is drawn out and cases are slow to proceed through the courts.
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Former Democrat state Sen. Hiram Monserrate, who has long organized rallies against Roosevelt Avenue brothels and joined the call for expanded federal action, praised the NYPD and recent federal arrests but said those efforts still fall short of dismantling entrenched brothel and trafficking networks.
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“The department has made great headway in combating the surge of crime that swept our community, but the mission is still incomplete,” Monserrate said.
“State laws do not give our local law enforcement the full range of options that are available to federal law enforcement. Therefore, we are calling upon the FBI to again investigate our complaints of human trafficking and racketeering in our community.”
