Queens residents call for action against illegal brothels: ‘clean up this mess’

QUEENS (PIX11)— On Wednesday, Queens community leaders, business owners, and residents called on the government to send the National Guard and State Troops to Jackson Heights .

This is after they say their neighborhood has been plagued with illegal brothels, massage parlors, sex trafficking, and illegal vendors.

It’s a growing concern in the area.

“We need the city, state, and federal government to get in line and clean up this mess,” said former City Councilman Hiram Monserrate.

A pastor at a local church said he is fed up after a bar next door to his church turned the basement into a bedroom for sex.

“you see the ladies walking without clothes,” Pastor Edgar J. Vinces said.

About a dozen business owners say they will write to Governor Kathy Hochul asking for help. They describe the situation as a national crisis.

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