Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has been a young darling of the Democratic Party, but residents of a Queens neighborhood in her district have become disenchanted with the lawlessness and illegal activity, including prostitution.
"Like most of my like-minded residents, we see this as a Third-World market," Ramses Frías, who left the Democratic Party to register Republican, said of the illegal activity in AOC's district that includes Corona, Jackson Heights, and Elmhurst, the New York Post reported. "Basically, you just see clothes thrown across the floor."
Unlicensed street vendors are stealing the legal local business and the streets are being overrun by illegal migrants and even prostitutes looking to make a living by unlawful means, according to Frias.
"The items are stolen from donation bins or stolen from stores, and they just set up shop outside brick-and-mortar businesses," Frias continued. "They take away trade from these businesses and don't pay taxes.
"There are no repercussions; they get a free pass."
The crime is not just licensing in the neighborhood, as migrants are making the streets more violent and unsafe for residents like himself, and prostitutes are peddling sex, Frias added.
"They do whatever they please; they are open about it and not discreet," Frías said. "They line up all along 90th street in front of a pizzeria, a 99-cent store and just try to pull men. You'll see multiple women in scantily clad clothing.
"Now it's cold — they are a bit covered up — but it will get worse in the summer."
Frias' remarks come just months after the NYPD busted a dozen massage parlors for alleged prostitution rings operating in "inhumane conditions," according to the Post.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams pointed to AOC's district as just "one example" of runaway crime by migrants, noting Venezuelan women looking for work have turned to prostitution to make a living in the city.
"This is what happens when you create an atmosphere that people can't provide for themselves — you can't work, you can't provide for your job and have to turn to illegal activities to do so," Adams said after the January prostitution bust in AOC's district.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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