Migrant flea markets and prostitutes now line the streets of a Queens neighborhood that falls within Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) House district, video shows.
The northwest Queens neighborhoods of Corona, Jackson Heights, and Elmhurst have become overrun with illegal migrants hawking clothes and other items on the street, video first reported by Fox News shows.
Large piles of clothes for sale sit on the ground, blocking parts of the sidewalk, while trash overflows on street corners. Migrants also sell sneakers, pots and pans, toys, and picture frames, according to the video, which was filmed by local resident Ramses Frías.
“We’ve become sort of this epicenter of crime and prostitution and illegal street vending. It’s taken over many streets,” Frías told Fox News.
“Like most of my like-minded residents, we see this as a third-world market,” he added. “Basically, you just see clothes thrown across the floor … the items are stolen from donation bins or stolen from stores, and they just set up shop outside brick-and-mortar businesses. They take away trade from these businesses and don’t pay taxes.”
Meanwhile, Corona’s main strip along Roosevelt Avenue has become known as the “market of sweethearts” for being rife with prostitutes who stand on the street during the day. The prostitutes reportedly solicit men during the day even as families with children in strollers walk by.
Nearly a dozen brothels were operating on the street last summer, the New York Post reported.
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Moms in the neighborhood expressed consternation about the open illegal sex trade at the time, saying the prostitutes recruited local children to hand out their X-rated business cards, some of which included photos of scantily clad women.
On Wednesday last week, prostitutes were snapped standing outside storefronts soliciting men, photos obtained by Fox News show. The prostitutes also reportedly stand around outside of supermarkets.
Ocasio-Cortez’s 14th Congressional District includes parts of Queens and the Bronx.
The congresswoman responded to the video in a statement, accusing Republicans of filming migrants in their “worst moments.”
“What we are seeing here is the result of anti-immigrant policies that deny immigrants proper work permits and vending licenses, and drive them into the shadows of undignified conditions,” Ocasio-Cortez told Fox News.
“This is just one way of many that anti-immigrant policies hurt all of us. Paths to citizenship and work documentation can solve this problem – but Republicans would rather block those so they can film people in their worst moments for views,” she said.
Frías, who took the video of the migrant flea market, is a former Democrat who is now running for New York state assembly as a Republican.
Frías said he has not seen Ocasio-Cortez campaign in the struggling neighborhoods.
“She doesn’t campaign there, she’s never set foot there. I’ve never seen her on Roosevelt Avenue. This is a few blocks off from where I literally live. I live and breathe this every single day,” he told Fox News.
“I would gladly give her a tour. I would walk her through everything, let her see exactly how it is and how it’s affecting the quality of life for everybody that lives there,” Frías said.