NEW YORK (WCBS 880)-- Councilman Donovan Richards has new initiatives for cleaning up the streets in areas like Flushing, Queens where he says prostitution near a playground full of children is not uncommon.
"In areas especially where undocumented ladies are coming here perhaps from China and other places and being promised the streets are paved with gold and then being extorted. You know, that's a reality on the ground. We have to take human trafficking seriously, " Richards says.
Although more NYPD officers have been assigned to these areas, Richards doesn't believe those measures will provide a solution to this problem.
"The days of putting these people in jail is not going to resolve this issue because when they come out they're still going to need services. So I think we cannot put a Band-Aid on this. We have to really get to the crust of the issues these young ladies are dealing with." he said.