Activists want sleazy NYC ‘Market of Sweethearts’ brothel padlocked for good: ‘Shut it down!’

Enough is enough!

A Queens community group demanded Sunday that a sleazy brothel at the notorious “Market of Sweethearts” be shut down once and for all — after it popped back up just hours after an NYPD raid.

The Restore Roosevelt Avenue Coalition rallied outside the 75th Street 𝘴єx shop in Jackson Heights calling for the city to permanently shutter it, while slamming city and state officials for allowing the illegal migrant mess to thrive along the bustling strip for years.

A group of residents from Jackson Heights hold a large banner reading "Restore Roosevelt Avenue" and yellow signs reading "SHUT IT DOWN" during a protest outside a building.

A coalition of residents from Jackson Heights, known as Restore Roosevelt Avenue, gathers to protest and demand the closure of a brothel at 37-45 75th Street in the Jackson Heights neighborhood in Queens. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post

Three women standing in front of storefronts on Roosevelt Avenue in the Corona section of Queens.

Women believed to be 𝘴єx workers stand in front of storefronts on Roosevelt Avenue between 89th Street and 91st Street in the Corona section of Queens overnight on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. For the New York Post

“We’re demanding that they shut it down permanently,” city district leader Hiram Monseratte said outside the former pediatric dentist office that now peddles 𝘴єx. “We’re upset that our criminal justice system is failing New Yorkers. We refuse to allow mockery of a criminal system to be made.”

Chanting “shut it down” and “taking our streets back,” protesters said police raided the building Saturday, but the illegal operators were up and running again just hours later — a symbol of the out-of-control strip of lawlessness that has remained in business despite repeated raids and protests.

“This is an embarrassment,” said district leader Rosa Sanchez. “This is our community.”

Residents of Jackson Heights, Queens, hold up signs reading "Shut It Down" while protesting outside a suspected brothel.

A coalition of residents from Jackson Heights, named Restore Roosevelt Avenue, gathers on the steps leading down to a brothel to protest and demand its closure at 37-45 75th Street in Jackson Heights. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post

The neighborhood along Roosevelt Avenue and neighboring streets has for years traumatized locals with open-air prostitution, drug trafficking and shoplifting — all of which sprouted up after illegal immigrants from the US border with Mexico flooded into the five boroughs.

Earlier this month, GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, held a press conference on Roosevelt Avenue and blamed soft-on-crime state statutes for the mess.

The NYPD has carried out raid after raid in recent years, and Gov. Kathy Hochul even deployed state troopers to the area for 90 days in 2024 to try to snuff out the illegal activity.

Last year, the city launched Operation Restore Roosevelt, a coordinated multi-agency effort to clean up the strip — and it worked briefly, cutting crime in the area by 28%, officials said.

A woman wearing a face mask stands on the street near a parked scooter on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens.

A woman stands on the street near Roosevelt Avenue in the “Market of Sweethearts” in Queens in 2024. NYPJ

Rosa Sanchez, holding a megaphone, and Hiram Monserrate stand outside a suspected brothel in Queens, NY, in front of a sign that reads "SHUT IT DOWN."

Hiram Monserrate and Rosa Sanchez stand in front of the entrance to a brothel during a protest against it. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post

But once they left, the illicit trade resumed — as was the case after the weekend police raid.

Now, community leaders maintain they’re fed up, and said Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani haven’t done enough to clean up their neighborhood after years of complaints.

“The community wants to walk peacefully down Roosevelt Avenue,” said sociologist Mercedes Blanco, a longtime neighborhood resident. “But they can’t because the night workers have taken ownership of our streets.”

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