Crackdown on Queens 'corridor of vice' spurs major drops in crime

Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News on Jun 25, 2025

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NEW YORK — An eight-month crackdown on a Queens strip that once teemed with brothels, sex traffickers and drug dealers has shown some positive results, along with a double-digit dip in crime, officials said Tuesday.

Operation Restore Roosevelt — a multipronged approach to shut down the brothels, clean up the streets and offer services for sex workers — has helped foster a 28% drop in crime along Roosevelt Avenue from 74th to 111th streets in Elmhurst and Corona. The percentage drop represents 177 fewer crimes this year when compared with the same period last year.

The ongoing problems on Roosevelt Avenue led The New York Times to call the strip a “corridor of vice” back in 2012. The operation, which launched last fall, involved several city agencies — including the NYPD, FDNY and the Health and Sanitation departments — all working together to eliminate crime, unlicensed vendors and the illegal brothels that had “taken over” the area, Mayor Eric Adams said.

“Every New Yorker deserves to live in a neighborhood that is safe from gun violence, with clean streets and free from illegal activity — and that’s exactly what we’re delivering on Roosevelt Avenue,” Adams said at a news conference at the 115th Precinct stationhouse in Queens. “This administration wasn’t going to tolerate an atmosphere of anything goes. We listened to the community and took action.”

Beginning in October 2024, cops zeroing in on Roosevelt Ave. have made more than 2,500 arrests, including 397 for prostitution-related offenses, officials said. Cops have also given out more than 27,000 summonses and confiscated 877 vehicles, including 648 illegal mopeds, scooters and ATVs.

The city has also done 303 building inspections along Roosevelt Avenue that have resulted in 18 vacate orders, officials said.

Besides the 28% dip in overall crime, cops have seen a 48% drop in burglaries, a 28% fall in felony assaults and a 27% reduction in robberies, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

“We’ve cracked down on crime, restored a sense of order, and delivered the kind of enforcement that makes a real difference in people’s lives,” Tisch said. “This isn’t about quick fixes — it’s about long-term commitment.”

The initiative also resulted in the shutting down of the 18th St. Gang, which facilitated the drug dealing and prostitution in the area, according to authorities.

City Councilman Francisco Moya, D-Queens, who has consistently complained about the prostitution issues that permeated Roosevelt Avenue, said he and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry walked Roosevelt Avenue recently.

The change he saw was astounding, Moya said.

“There were families out having dinner,” he said. “With cleaner and safer streets comes more opportunities for us to celebrate all that our diverse community has to offer.”

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