AOC’s 'red light district’ prostitution crisis will engulf NYC if Mamdani wins mayor’s race, rivals warn

Curtis Sliwa and Andrew Cuomo are warning that a prostitution-plagued strip in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s district will only get worse and could fuel a citywide explosion of vice if Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor.

The rampant sex trade along the seedy strip has been likened to a "red light district" with women soliciting sex in broad daylight and gang crime an everyday reality for local residents. The FBI previously told Fox News Digital that it has made the issue a top priority in its efforts to combat violent crime and prostitution.

Sex work along Roosevelt Avenue erupted as a campaign flashpoint after the issue was raised during a recent mayoral debate, with the former New York governor pressing Mamdani over his past support for decriminalizing prostitution.

Zohran Mamdani (left) is joining Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for a breakfast event in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday morning.  (AP Images)

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Mamdani, who leads the race after a surprise Democratic primary win over Cuomo, has faced growing criticism for backing proposals to relax prostitution laws — a move opponents say would push an already chaotic street over the edge.

As a state Assembly member, Mamdani co-sponsored a bill known as "Cecilia’s Law" that would decriminalize certain prostitution offenses and told the Assembly of his "fundamental belief" that "sex work is work" and that urged a debate on decriminalization. According to the New York Times, for roughly five years he argued publicly that prostitution should be decriminalized.

Sliwa, the Republican nominee, told Fox News Digital that a Mamdani mayoralty would expand prostitution and trafficking across the city and cement Roosevelt Avenue’s reputation as a red-light corridor of illicit activity and violence.

"I truly believe there will be an expansion of this throughout the city if he should become mayor," Sliwa said of Mamdani in a Fox News Digital interview.

"What you would have in East Elmhurst, Corona, Jackson Heights … is open-air prostitution from buildings owned by absentee landlords with pimps and madams, women who have been sex-trafficked into this country," Sliwa said. "He’s been very clear: decriminalize prostitution — prostitutes should have a right to sell themselves anywhere, residential areas, in the street, behind closed doors."

During the final mayoral debate, Mamdani sought to distance himself from those earlier positions after Cuomo accused him of supporting full legalization of prostitution and opposing misdemeanor enforcement. If prostitution were decriminalized, it wouldn’t be a crime. Legalizing it means turning it into something the government oversees and sets rules for.

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As mayor, Mamdani wouldn’t have the power to pass laws decriminalizing prostitution — those are set at the state level — but he could effectively relax enforcement, a prospect he shot down several times in this race.

"Not only have I never called for the legalization of prostitution, I’m not calling for that today either," Mamdani said in response to Cuomo at the debate. "And I also have never said anything about not enforcing misdemeanors."

Being in charge of appointing the NYPD commissioner, Mamdani could influence policing priorities and direct the department to scale back raids or quality-of-life sweeps along Roosevelt Avenue. He could also work with the City Council to revise local nuisance laws or business-licensing rules affecting the strip. Critics argue that even symbolic support from City Hall could signal to traffickers that the city is easing up.

Cuomo’s campaign told Fox News Digital that the former governor "is firmly opposed to the decriminalization of prostitution" and would dedicate resources to going after the traffickers while providing real support for victims.

"[Former Gov. Cuomo] has visited Roosevelt Avenue many times and spoken with residents — the situation there is out of control," spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said. "Electing Zohran Mamdani mayor would only pour gasoline on the fire and turn all of New York into a red-light district."

Azzopardi said Roosevelt Avenue’s problems are just one example of what he called Mamdani’s "dangerous public-safety platform," which he said includes defunding the NYPD, closing Rikers Island prison and turning city buses into "roaming homeless shelters" under his free bus plan.

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While Sliwa and Cuomo have both talked tough about cracking down on crime along Roosevelt Avenue, Sliwa said Cuomo and Mamdani’s actions have already allowed the strip’s sex trade to flourish.

Mamdani co-sponsored, and Cuomo signed, legislation repealing a law that criminalized loitering for prostitution. Advocates said the statute had been used by police to target transgender women and minority sex workers. Sliwa argues it proves Cuomo wouldn’t be as tough on the issue as he would be.

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"Actually, Cuomo aided and abetted this effort by signing the legislation to do away with loitering laws, although he’s the first one to point fingers at Zohran Mamdani," Sliwa said.

Azzopardi responded by saying that the law had nothing to do with solicitation and "wasn’t credibly used to crack down on prostitution."

Sliwa pledged a tough enforcement plan if elected mayor — padlocking buildings, prosecuting pimps and landlords and rooting out alleged NYPD corruption that he has long argued has allowed the brothels to thrive.

"We will lock up the pimps and the madams and they will become cooperating witnesses against some of the corrupt police who turned a blind eye to the sex trafficking," Sliwa said. "You’ve got to root out the corruption locally because there are some cops, unfortunately, on the take. It’s the only way the prostitution can flourish."

Mamdani's campaign and Ocasio-Cortez's office did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Ramses Frias, a Democrat-turned-Republican City Council candidate from the area who has protested the issue for years, said he fears the worst.

"If Zohran Mamdani wins, and with his agenda to decriminalize prostitution, this area will only get worse," Frias told Fox News Digital. "There’s no law, there’s no order in these neighborhoods. All you see is destruction, pain and suffering."

Several women linE a street in Queens. (Michael Dorgan/Fox News Digital)

Frias said children walking to school pass several brothels along Roosevelt Avenue.

"Just here in Elmhurst, next to a taekwondo school, there are about three brothels, with 10 to 15 prostitutes often standing outside," he said. "Right around the corner on 88th Street is the path to P.S. 89, where I went to school — and kids have to walk past prostitutes and degenerates every day."

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Christopher Raia, head of the FBI’s New York field office, told Fox News Digital earlier this month that his agents are actively working the area and that residents should expect raids. It’s unclear if any have materialized.

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The NYPD said enforcement has ramped up along the corridor since the launch of Operation Roosevelt about a year ago — a targeted police crackdown on the strip.

Police said crime is down 34.7% year to date and the NYPD has made nearly 3,900 arrests on the Roosevelt corridor, 549 of which were tied to prostitution.

"We’ve made significant progress addressing the community’s concerns," an NYPD spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "Our officers will continue working every day to increase public safety and revitalize the neighborhood."