NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Hundreds of police have been deployed to Roosevelt Avenue as part of "Operation Restore Roosevelt," a joint effort by the city and state announced Tuesday to combat what locals decry as a "wave of lawlessness" along the bustling corridor under the 7 line in Queens.
The deployment was made Tuesday at the behest of local and state leaders after the "Let’s Improve Roosevelt Avenue Coalition" pushed for months to get more resources to fight crime and quality-of-life concerns in the area, including rampant prostitution, brothels, drug dealing, human trafficking, retail theft, unlicensed vendors, counterfeiting, excessive noise and unlicensed mopeds along a nearly two-mile stretch of the avenue in Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Corona.
The group’s pleas were answered by Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD brass, according to Hiram Monserrate, a Queens Democratic district leader who has served in the City Council and State Senate.
“We appreciate that the governor, the mayor, the police commissioner heard the cry of our community,” he said, adding they’re now on the path to “taking our community back.”
Adams held a news conference in the area Tuesday night with NYPD and community leaders to announce the 90-day operation, which brings more than a dozen city agencies together with state partners "to restore safety and order to the area while delivering resources for those impacted by the issues plaguing Roosevelt Avenue."
“We will end sex trafficking in this area. We are not here for one day and go away. We're here for the problem to go away,” Adams said.
The NYPD is running the multi-agency operation with more than a dozen other offices and agencies taking part, from the MTA and the Department of Homeless Services to the FDNY, Department of Buildings and NYC Parks. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, whose office is also involved, called the initiative "a strong deterrent for the illegal activity plaguing this area."
Some 200 members of the NYPD are involved, including dozens of sergeants and lieutenants.
Monserrate and the rest of the coalition had sent a letter to Hochul last week asking for 100 state troopers to supplement the NYPD’s increased presence—and they showed up Tuesday.
Monserrate said he saw more than 200 police officers along Roosevelt Avenue, including roughly 100 members of the New York State Police. He said they’ll remain there for the foreseeable future, “taking Roosevelt Avenue back from the street gangs, cartels, human traffickers, street walkers and other criminal operations.”
A police command center has been set up at 84th Street, near Gleane Street in Elmhurst, according to Monserrate, who said he saw NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry and leaders of the New York State troopers there.
“I was told by some of the supervisors there that they are going to be here for some time,” he said. “This is the first time that I have ever—in over 30 years of experiencing this community—ever seen state troopers on Roosevelt Avenue.”
“These police officers are needed to stabilize this community, because of the level of criminality, and then they’ll do an assessment at some point in the future,” Monserrate said.
He said the coalition is very grateful for the additional resources.
“We want our kids to be able to go to school in the morning and afternoon and not be confronted by streetwalkers, sex workers and other criminal elements,” Monserrate said. “We want quality of life and we want safety. We want the same thing that all New Yorkers want, and I believe now we’re on the right track to get this done.”
Monserrate also credited local media with helping to bring attention to the growing issue, including brothels operating openly near elementary schools at all hours of the day.
“Roosevelt Avenue has been covered by 1010 WINS for the last six or seven weeks because of the level of criminality, the wave of lawlessness, hundreds of street walkers, the cartels, the criminal gangs,” he said.