New York City’s mayor is making headlines again for yet another burgeoning scandal.
Queens community activists are pressing Mayor Zohran Mamdani to take stronger action against prostitution, suspected human trafficking and other illegal activity along Roosevelt Avenue, arguing that conditions have deteriorated since he took office in January.
“The street activity is really off the charts,” riffed former state Sen. Hiram Monserrate, who was among two dozen community leaders rallying in Jackson Heights on Saturday along the notorious “Market of Sweethearts” strip that also stretches into Corona and other surrounding neighborhoods.
“We had some solution or some betterment of the quality of life and public safety under our prior administration [of ex-Mayor Eric Adams], where we had Operation Restore Roosevelt [a multi-agency law enforcement and quality-of-life initiative], when the governor sent state troopers here, but right now, they have abandoned Roosevelt Avenue, and the crime is all coming back,” Monserrate told the New York Post.
Residents and business owners along the busy corridor through Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Corona say open-air prostitution has again become highly visible, with women soliciting customers on sidewalks and alleged brothels operating from storefronts and residential buildings.
Some activists contend the problems had eased under former Mayor Eric Adams but have returned as the city shifted away from the aggressive enforcement strategy used during his administration.
The complaints center on a stretch sometimes referred to locally as the “Market of Sweethearts,” where prostitution and illegal businesses have been persistent concerns for years.
Rosa Sanchez, an organizer with Restore Roosevelt Avenue, has called on both Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul to increase enforcement and focus on suspected traffickers and brothel operators.
Residents recently demonstrated outside locations they believe are being used as illegal brothels, demanding that authorities shut them down.
The criticism comes after the Adams administration devoted significant police and city resources to the area through “Operation Restore Roosevelt,” launched in October 2024, The Post reported.
By June 2025, City Hall reported 2,501 arrests under the initiative, including 397 prostitution-related offenses, along with nearly 28,000 summonses and hundreds of building and vendor inspections.
The city also reported that major crime along the corridor had fallen 28% compared with the previous year.
Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at the time that the operation was designed to target prostitution, illegal vending, gangs and other quality-of-life problems while also connecting vulnerable people with social services.
Critics of the current administration argue that the sustained enforcement presence has diminished.
However, there is not yet comprehensive public NYPD data demonstrating that prostitution or trafficking has increased since Mamdani became mayor. The NYPD has not released updated Roosevelt Avenue arrest figures comparable with those published during Operation Restore Roosevelt.
Mamdani’s previous positions on prostitution have added to the controversy.
While serving in the state Assembly, he co-sponsored legislation that would have decriminalized certain prostitution-related offenses involving consenting adults.
During his 2025 mayoral campaign, Mamdani said he did not support legalizing prostitution and did not make decriminalization part of his City Hall agenda.
His campaign said he favored focusing law enforcement resources on traffickers and people who coerce others into prostitution while providing services to sex workers.
Advertisement
Mamdani has also argued that debates over prostitution policy should focus on public-safety outcomes rather than simply increasing arrests.
Opponents of decriminalization contend that reducing penalties could make it harder to combat trafficking and could encourage the expansion of the commercial sex trade. Supporters argue that criminalizing sex workers can make vulnerable people less willing to report violence or exploitation.
That policy debate has taken on greater urgency along Roosevelt Avenue, where residents say the immediate concern is not theoretical.
Activists describe visible prostitution, suspected trafficking, illegal vending and drug activity as continuing quality-of-life problems and want City Hall to restore a more aggressive enforcement presence.
For now, Mamdani has not announced a new Roosevelt Avenue initiative comparable with Adams’ Operation Restore Roosevelt.