City officials push to shut down sex sales in Flushing
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Once referred to as
Flushing’s “Restaurant Row,”
40th Road off Main Street has
gained notoriety in recent
weeks as an unofficial red
light district where young
women aggressively solicit sex
24/7 on the street and even in
nearby Bland Playground.
Now local lawmakers,
business leaders and the
NYPD are stepping up efforts
to clean the area up.
City Councilman Peter
Koo updated the public on
March 8 at Bland Playground
about efforts to eliminate
prostitution in the area, where
dozens of girls have solicited
people for sex.
Koo was joined by
the Flushing Business
Improvement District,
members of the 109th Precinct,
and Councilman Donovan
Richards — the chair of the
Public Safety Committee — to
discuss the issue at 40th Road
in Flushing, which has nearly
two dozen restaurants, the
entrance to the Flushing-Main
Street stop on the Long Island
Rail Road, Bland Playground
and numerous massage
parlors which have allegedly
doubled as illegal brothels.
City Councilman Peter Koo (c.) at Bland Playground in Flushing,
where prostitution has become an issue. Courtesy of Koo’s office
The block of 40th Road
between Main and Prince
Streets is the same site where,
in 2017, a prostitute committed
suicide by leaping from a
building as she was about to be
arrested during a NYPD sting,
according to reports.
In collaboration with
the 109th Precinct and the
Flushing BID, Koo’s office
has been working to expose,
identify and shut down
several brothels posing as
massage parlors on 40th Road.
Additionally, Koo has spoken
directly with several landlords
on the block to demand that
they evict tenants who engage
in illegal activity.
As a result, most of the
fake massage parlors have
now either been padlocked by
the NYPD or had their locks
changed by landlords, Koo
reported on March 8.
“We have made significant
progress in cleaning up 40th
Road thanks to a combination
of police enforcement,
community engagement and
even media exposure,” he said.
“For too long, this pervasive
issue has plagued our
community, but we are here
to say that ends today. In the
past, crackdowns result in the
problem going away for a little
while only to resurface again.
This will take consistent
enforcement, and my office
plans to stay engaged on this
matter with police, business
owners, landlords and
the community.”
According to the NYPD,
in 2018 there were 24
closings of legal and illegal
massage parlors conducting
prostitution within the 109th
Precinct and 52 closings
in total within the Patrol
Borough Queens North.
In a statement to QNS,
NYPD spokeswoman
Sergeant Jessica McRorie
said the NYPD is working to
end prostitution conditions
and has shifted focus on
enforcement operations
to target pimps and johns
primarily during antiprostitution
investigations
and arrests, and on the
closure of locations through
civil action taken against
landlords who are complicit
in the illegal business
of prostitution.
When arrests are made for
prostitution, those arrested
are delivered to a diversion
court where they are offered
help and services in lieu
of prosecution in criminal
court.
The NYPD also understands
that some of the women
involved in prostitution are
being “forced, coerced or
otherwise made to against
their will,” and the department
works with its partners to offer
services to those who why
may be victimized, according
to McRorie.
“The NYPD facilitates
the work of our partners in
connecting the victims of
human trafficking with social
services,” said McRorie. “The
NYPD does this by conducting
operations where we provide
safe access for social service
providers to enter these
establishments and assist the
victimized without arrests
being made.”
Koo is currently planning
a sex trafficking seminar with
the NYPD and local women’s
shelter nonprofits in order to
educate the community about
sex trafficking.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718) 260–
4526.
Jax Hgts bingo game highlights commuters’ headaches
BY BILL PARRY
Winning this game of bingo
is surely a losing proposition
for Queens commuters.
With the April 1 state budget
deadline looming, transit
riders played a game on March
10 in Jackson Heights in which
they collected horror stories
from fellow riders about all of
the different ways the subway
and bus system have let them
down and then completed
game cards for delivery
to Queens representatives
in the state legislature
to build momentum for
congestion pricing.
Activists with the
grassroots Riders Alliance
held “#FixTheSubway
Bingo” Sunday at the Jackson
Heights-Roosevelt Avenue
station, filling their boards of
common commuter headaches
— including rerouted trains,
overcrowded platforms and
long wait times — before
heading to Flushing and
Forest Hills.
“I rely on public
transportation every day to
go either to school or work,”
Riders Alliance member
Fulton Hou of Little Neck
said. “When the subways
are delayed it affects my
life, especially my commute
to school. We have just a
few weeks before our state
representatives pass the
state budget, and we’re here
to say we have suffered
enough bad commutes
because of failing subway
and bus systems.”
Congestion pricing would
place a toll on cars and trucks
entering Manhattan below
60th Street in a program
projected to raise billions to
modernize the transit system.
“Queens residents, students
and commuters put up with a
lot: slow and inconsistent buses,
delayed and deteriorating
subways, infrequent and
expensive express buses and
LIRR trains. We also have
too many drivers, who make
our streets unsafe and deadly
Transit advocates to to the Broadway-74th Street station in
Jackson Heights to fight for congestion pricing.
for those who walk and bike
to access transit and get
around our neighborhoods,”
Transportation Alternatives
Queens Committee Chair
Laura Shepard said.
“Congestion pricing
intelligently addresses these
crises simultaneously. Reliable
public transportation and
Courtesy of Riders Alliance
safe streets are essential to a
sustainable future in Queens,
where people from all over the
world, of all ages, abilities and
economic means can access
opportunities and prosperity.”
State Sen. Jessica Ramos is
on board with Riders Alliance
after riding the 7 train for
years.
“Our subways are in
desperate need of repair,”
she said. “We need to
secure a congestion pricing
plan in this year’s budget
that will put revenue in a
lockbox for repairs on our
subways. I am committed to
passing a congestion pricing
plan to ensure our public
transportation system works
for working people.”
State Assemblyman
Andrew Hevesi agreed.
“All too often what should
be a quick and easy commute
ends up taking hours,” Hevesi
said. “The time to improve our
public transit system is long
overdue, these improvements
must include more reliable
service and increased
accessibility. Implementing
congestion pricing is the
best way to fund these
improvements.”
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by e-mail at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260–4538.
TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM MARCH 15-21, 2019 5
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