Finally! Meaningful action to clean up the infamous “Market of Sweethearts.”
That’s the name merchants gave to the stretch of Roosevelt Avenue in Queens overrun by brothels (not to mention illegal vendors, shoplifting and drugs), with much of the crime linked to migrants.
Gov. Kathy Hochul sent state troopers to join NYPD cops there Tuesday — more than 200 officers in all, Mayor Eric Adams notes — to take control.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry joined the mission personally, and the department’s interim boss, Tom Donlon, visited over the weekend.
Numerous agencies, from the FDNY to the Buildings Department to the Queens District Attorney’s Office, are also taking part in the operation.
In short, the authorities are at last giving the crime and blight the attention it deserves.
Hooray! The neighborhood may finally see some improvement … at least this week — and maybe even for the next few months: Adams says the crackdown will continue for 90 days.
Will it work? We’ll see.
And what happens after the 90 days?
City Hall, after all, has tried to reclaim the area several times before, only to watch the prostitution and crime spring back up after cops leave.
The Post has been focusing attention on the open-air sex market for months.
Yet residents continued to complain of lackluster police enforcement and nonexistent prosecutions, which have emboldened the sex-trafficking and illegal vending — even as kids, shoppers and legitimate shopkeepers try to carry on normal lives.
On Wednesday, City Councilman Francisco Moya, who represents the district, recalled that Adams has been “fighting” for a better “quality of life in this city, in particular this area of Roosevelt Avenue,” for three whole years.
Why the repeated failures? New York’s soft-on-crime laws and lack of ongoing enforcement, plus the Harris-Biden migrant onslaught and the city’s Sanctuary City rules, have made it nearly impossible to jail (let alone deport) criminals.
Yet a sustained presence of cops, shutting down the johns, pushers, shoplifters, illegal vendors, along with prosecutors and judges who side with the neighborhood rather than the perps, can indeed make a difference.
“Residents deserve more,” Adams admitted Wednesday. “And we’re here” to ensure that “people are able to enjoy their community.”
We’re looking forward to seeing you prove it, Mr. Mayor.
And not for just 90 days — but far into the future.
