Sex workers, illegal vendors at NYC ‘Market of Sweethearts’ urge cops to leave them alone as they rally for more rights
About three dozen people who identified themselves as sex workers and illegal vendors rallied along Queen’s seedy “Market of Sweethearts” Tuesday, calling on cops to turn down the heat so they can make a living.
The protesters said they peddle their bodies and stolen loot to survive — and said repeated NYPD raids along their Roosevelt Avenue haunt has made it harder to make ends meet.
“I proudly call myself a hooker with a 401K,” said consultant and sex worker Victoria Von Blaque, who urged the cops and the city to “stop trying to play Captain Save a Hoe.
“I went out and got a job, I had the education,” she said. “But because we live in a world that will deny human beings the simple right, no matter how qualified they are, to equal employment and treatment with health care that affirms us — a lot of us are forced back to the streets.
“My secondary job is a sex worker,” Blaque said. “Why? Because we live in New York City. Where else do you know where you can live and you have to make over $100,000 to be considered working class or just making it? So if you don’t want us to be sex workers, give us resources that we actually want and need.”
Eliana Jaramillo, a street vendor in the community, complained about the fines he’s racking up
“I have been discriminated against in the streets,” she said. “And currently I received four tickets, and these are tickets that are not cheap. These tickets go up to $1,000 and they have been trying to arrest me. Yesterday, we had a couple of arrests. There were eight people that were arrested in the street.
“They tried to arrest me too, just for trying to sell our products in the street.”
Maxima Rodas, who heads the trans immigrant project Make the Road New York, told reporters that the police raids “indiscriminately targeted some of the most vulnerable” residents.
“This so-called ‘Quality of Life’ operation targets sex workers, street vendors and migrant communities who live in this neighborhood,” she said. “This is a racist and anti immigrant attack on our communities.”
The Post has repeatedly reported on conditions along Roosevelt Avenue, where locals complain that migrant brothels are operating around the clock, while vendors are selling goods on the sidewalk that, in many cases, consist of merchandise stolen from neighborhood retailers.
The NYPD has carried out several raids, shutting down the seedy sex parlors, confiscating vendors’ goods and issuing summonses — but they all return after the cops leave.
Earlier this month, Interim NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon took his first tour of the area and vowed to return “once a week, twice a week” to address concerns.
Among those leading the local charge to shut down the illicit open-air market is Democratic district leader Hiram Monserrate, who tried to stage a counter protest Tuesday, only to be shouted down.
“More resources, no more raids,” the protesters shouted at him.
“They say that they represent our community when we know that’s false,” said Mateo Guerrero of Make the Road New York. “When you say that you want to bring state troopers and no policing in these neighborhoods, what you’re saying is, I’m not going to give you housing, I’m not going to give you access to health. I’m not going to give you any resources for your schools.
“And that is not OK, because when I have conversations in the streets and I ask people, ‘What makes you feel safe?’ People say, ‘I want to be able to go home. I want to be able to have a roof over my head. I want to be able to put a plate of food on my table. I want to be able to have an education.'”
Asked about the Venezuelan migrant gang Trend de Aragua’s involvement in illegal activity on the strip — as law enforcement sources contend — protest leaders declined to comment.
