NY Assembly candidate sounds alarm on migrants' flea markets: 'Epicenter' of illegal activity
NY Assembly candidate Ramses Frias joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss why he decided to run for office and AOC's response to criticism surrounding the illegal activity.
An outraged resident in "Squad" member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Queens, N.Y., district has launched a bid for office as migrant crime and prostitution overrun his community.
"We've become sort of this epicenter of crime and prostitution and illegal street vending. It's taken over many streets," Ramses Frías told "Fox & Friends" Monday.
"It goes all the way from Corona, through Elmhurst and into Jackson Heights. These are three neighboring neighborhoods that are really being hit hard with these problems."
Video shot by Frías and obtained by Fox News Digital shows how the once-vibrant community in the Democrat's 14th Congressional District has essentially deteriorated into a large flea market with trash overflowing on street corners, leading to unsavory and unhygienic conditions.
NYC POLICE BEGIN KNOCKING DOWN THE DOORS OF ILLEGAL BROTHELS, STARTING IN QUEENS
Sex workers stand on a street in the Corona section of Queens, NY Wednesday, March 13, 2024.
The neighborhood’s main strip along Roosevelt Avenue has become so renowned for its prostitution that locals have nicknamed the area "the market of sweethearts," and viral online videos advise prospective johns on how to make use of sex workers' services there.
In exclusive Fox News Digital photos, sex workers were seen on Wednesday standing outside storefronts soliciting men. Residents say the prostitutes usually take their clients into makeshift brothels for sex.
These alleged sex workers operate during all hours of the day, even as families walk by with their children in strollers, and often hang out in front of area supermarkets. Prostitution is against the law in New York.
In response to the video, Ocasio-Cortez issued a statement to "Fox & Friends": "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. 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."
Frías, a former Democrat, is now running for the State Assembly District 39 seat as a Republican. He said he has not seen Ocasio-Cortez in the neighborhood, which began struggling with crime last summer.
"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 said.
"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."
Fox News' Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
