New York school children have complained they are being forced to walk past ‘Venezuelan pr0stitutes’ in broad daylight, with their neighborhood likened to a Bangkok ‘red-light district’.
High schoolers told how they encounter s*x workers ‘virtually on every block’ of the route along the Jackson Heights-Corona border.
Jalene Lugo, 14, said she passed several provocatively dressed women in a doorway on 93rd Street earlier this week and not for the first time.
‘During school hours, they’re out,’ the high school freshman told PIX 11 News. ‘They will be out with their pimps and they don’t care.’
Other residents described the scene as like a ‘red-light district, similar to Bangkok’.
Elmhurst resident Ramsay Frias told the outlet: ‘It’s scary that there’s no moral compass anymore. Growing up, it’s never been perfect, but right now, it’s lawless.’
Jalene’s mom Massiel Lugo, a local activist who has previously held rallies about the issue, is calling for more to be done to keep the area safe for youngsters.
Lugo said: ‘We understand that these women need money, but they shouldn’t be doing this during school. We are seeing more Latina women doing pr0stitution.’
She has set up a petition to ‘reclaim’ the community, which has so far amassed more than 1,600 signatures.
Meanwhile, businesses have warned the activity is causing them to lose money. One cellphone store owner revealed customers don’t want to come in anymore due to the presence of s*x workers outside.
But state assembly member Cataline Cruz, who researched s*x trafficking prior to her election in the Queens district, opposes the criminalization of pr0stitution.
‘Whatever way we choose to enforce the law, remember they are humans,’ Cruz said.
‘They deserve dignity. They deserve protection.’
She said she would support decriminalization if the correct support was in place.
However, Mayor Eric Adams has remained firm in his opposition to decriminalizing pr0stitution. He said the massive increase in solicitation is linked to the migrant crisis.
‘There are real issues around illegal s^x work,’ he said. ‘Not only from STDs (s^xually transmitted diseases) — s^x trafficking, young girls getting involved in it.’
He confirmed that the police had stated many of the s^x workers were Venezuelan.
He added: ‘This is what happens when you create an atmosphere where people can’t provide for themselves.’
He also blasted ‘elected officials who are fighting against us, trying to legalize s^x work.’
