New York City boroughs have become illegal open-air markets for immigration fraudsters: sources

metro

by kevin sheehan and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon

The Post reported that an area of ​​Jackson Heights had been transformed into an illegal immigrant shopping district, an open-air market where everything from women to stolen goods could be bought.

Roosevelt Avenue near 91st Street is littered daily with immigrant peddlers selling goods stolen from store owners a stone's throw away, and prostitutes woo passersby 24/7 – and complain. Embarrassed merchants and residents say there is nothing they can do.

“It's relentless,” says Milton Reyes, who owns Mi Pharmacia Pharmacy on this street. “Look at me on Saturday. It's so heavy I can't even get it on the sidewalk. There are a lot of clinics around here, but my customers don't even want to be taken off.

“I'm not blaming the police,” Reyes added. “They'll come and pick up some. But as soon as the police car leaves, they start backing up. Twenty minutes later, they're set up again as if nothing happened.”

Immigrant peddlers spread benign items like mouthwash, diapers and baby formula on blankets and beach towels, reselling their stolen goods at deep discounts right on the sidewalk.

The illegally obtained products are stored in suitcases in a van parked across the street and taken out in the morning for display. An unscrupulous dealer also loaded stolen Target shopping carts with items during a business day this week.

When a Post reporter and cameraman arrived, they mistook the news crew for police and dispersed, but quickly returned to normal as soon as they passed.

Sex workers openly roam the streets, and older madams sit nearby, pointing out potential men as they pass.

One law enforcement official criticized soft-on-crime laws that severely restrict police actions and release low-level, non-violent offenders if they appear in court.

“Roosevelt Street is a microcosm, a perfect storm of crazy laws that impede enforcement and subsequent punitive consequences,” the source said.

“When you add to that a wave of people who have nothing to lose, you end up with crime and a decline in the quality of life of the community and the city as a whole.”

Outdoor prostitution has plagued parts of Roosevelt Street for months, with a seedy “lover's market” flourishing where sex is sold on the streets and inside a series of walk-up buildings that now serve as brothels. .

Police moved in January to shut down more than a dozen brothels due to illegal activities and unsanitary conditions, but the sordid sex trade did not stop for long.

In Jackson Heights, prostitutes now share the same landscape as shoplifting immigrants, who mob local retail stores and loot them, selling stolen goods just a stone's throw from the stores at 20% or 30% less. Retailers said they were brazenly selling the products.

“They are stealing,” Francisco Oporta, a security guard at Lotless, told the Post. “They took it out of the box, and it's ours. As you can see. It's new, but we're listing it as used. It's ours.”

“They've been training people,” said Oporta, 55, of Long Island City. “They have lookouts and people who yell so that when the police come they can pick them up and leave. They're catching a lot, they're stealing a lot. Last week they caught 20. 20 a week. They're hurting business.”

Complaints from customers continue, but even if store owners call 311, it has little effect on stopping illegal activity.

“I don't know what will make this situation go away,” said one local resident, who gave his name only as Zhou H. Everyone buys from these people. There were a few, but mostly at night. It's like a bazaar. About a year ago, it accumulated.

“But I thought, these people don't have that opportunity. They have to support themselves and, you know, they're trying to survive, so whatever. I think so,” he said. “About a year ago, we started at 10 in the morning with five of us. Then he gets 10, then he gets 20 all day. At night? Never mind!

“It just became the norm,” he added.