Prostitution busts plunge 60% — but hookers multiply

You don’t need a citywide survey to know what’s happening on Roosevelt Avenue. The corner chatter, the traffic slowing down, the open brazenness of it all. But now we have the arrest numbers, and they do the talking: prostitution busts down nearly 60% since Zohran Mamdani took over as mayor. That’s not a coincidence. That’s a policy choice, and it has an address.

A softer hand on law enforcement hasn't made the neighborhood safer. It has made the oldest profession feel like a growth industry. Fewer arrests mean more johns cruising, more pimps setting up shop, more women trapped in a cycle that no one in City Hall seems eager to interrupt. The socialist mayor talks about harm reduction, but the only harm being reduced is the risk of getting caught. For families on that strip, the harm is real, daily, and getting worse.

The defenders will say arrests don't solve the root causes. Fine. But what exactly is the city's solution? Open-air markets for sex work aren’t progressive, they’re predatory. The police know how to read the street. They’re just being told to look the other way. That leaves neighborhoods to fend for themselves while the politicians pat themselves on the back for being enlightened.

The people of Queens deserve better than a mayor who surrenders the sidewalks. We expect a bit of honesty from our local leaders. Mamdani could at least admit that fewer arrests mean more prostitution. Instead, we get slogans and silence. Maybe the next report won’t be about arrest numbers. Maybe it’ll be about cleaning up the mess. But don’t hold your breath.