Decriminalize Sex Work joined allies, community members and advocates to host a press conference demanding an immediate end to “Operation Restore Roosevelt,” a harmful policing campaign launched by NY Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams in Queens, NY. The intensification of policing violently targets the community’s most vulnerable members, including immigrants, transgender individuals, and working-class people of color — many of whom engage in sex work.
Community members took over the steps of Corona Plaza, surrounded by signs and loud chants to share their personal stories as they demanded the removal of state and local troops from Jackson Heights, North Corona, and Elmhurst. They sent a clear message to Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams on the need to invest in community-based solutions that prioritize support for sex workers and street vendors, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to thrive. They stressed the need for politicians to speak directly to members of the community to understand their needs, rather than create policies that exclude and dehumanize them.
Authorities say they are responding to neighborhood complaints that sex work makes the area unsafe and unlicensed street vendors infringe on public space and make it hard for brick-and-mortar businesses to thrive.
The press conference generated lots of media attention, including Sex workers, street vendors protest police raids in Queens.
Advocates who spoke at the press conference shared the following statements:
“As a longtime attorney and advocate for sex workers and survivors of human trafficking, I can say from experience and with certainty that the criminalization of sex work is used to disproportionately target and criminalize people of color, the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly transwomen, and people who are the most vulnerable to exploitation. Evidence shows that decriminalizing sex work will help end human trafficking, improve public health, and promote community safety,” said Decriminalize Sex Work Legal Director Melissa Sontag Broudo.
“As public defenders who represent the majority of this city’s criminalized sex workers, street vendors, and labor and sex trafficking survivors, we know that sending in state troopers and diverting NYPD resources to ramp up enforcement in Jackson Heights will only lead to arrests and further marginalization of those struggling to survive,” said Abigail Swenstein with the Exploitation Intervention Project at The Legal Aid Society. “If either Mayor Adams or Governor Hochul truly cared about possible trafficking or the ‘quality of life’ in the surrounding Jackson Heights and Corona area, they would invest in these communities and the local community-based organizations who provide assistance to marginalized workers. Arresting survivors is never the answer.”
Elizabeth Koke, Creative Director of Housing Works, said, “It is an outrage that the Governor and Mayor would rather invest in terror-inducing law enforcement than prioritize the wellbeing of the hard-working New Yorkers in this neighborhood. Safe, affordable, and dignified housing is not only the first step in building a sustainable life here in New York, but a human right. We need more resources for housing and healthcare — not escalated police presence in our communities.”
Ceyenne Doroshow, Founder/Executive Director of G.L.I.T.S, said, “For decades sex workers have been surviving, demanding respect and good healthcare and still yet we are still being criminalized. We urge investment in our communities, not more criminalization of our communities.”
Victoria Von Blaque, of Trans Equity Consulting, said, “Jackson Heights, once the embodiment of the American dream for marginalized groups, yet gentrification and over-policing are unraveling the delicate ecosystem that flourished here. The very community that offered safety and belonging is now under threat, as non-white sex workers face increasing danger from those sworn to protect them. Displacement of families disrupts the vibrant tapestry woven by vendors, nightlife, and sex workers. Instead of addressing real issues, politicians target the vulnerable, exacerbating the harm to a community that deserves preservation, not persecution.”
Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest, District 57, said, “I sponsored the Stop Violence in the Sex Trades Act (SVSTA) because I believe that these workers, along with others in the informal economy, are being unfairly scapegoated for systemic problems in our society. Many of them are immigrants, many queer or transgender, and almost all are struggling to make a living. Instead of receiving protection and support, they are being further criminalized, and placed into a potential pipeline into deportation. Instead of relying on increased enforcement to solve these challenges, we must address the root causes of poverty, including housing insecurity, lack of employment opportunities, and discrimination, to keep our communities truly safe for all.”
