Concerns are growing over gang activity along Roosevelt Avenue in Corona, where police have linked criminal operations to the Tren de Aragua (TDA) gang, which has already caused disruption in Times Square.
The NYPD recently launched a major campaign to combat prostitution and illegal vendors in the area near the 7 line, where Los Diablos de la 42, a subset of the TDA, is suspected of gaining a foothold. This gang, operating from city shelters and recruiting vulnerable children, is believed to be contributing to the ongoing quality-of-life issues in the neighborhood.
Chief of Patrol John Chell confirmed that detectives are actively investigating gang activity along Roosevelt Avenue. “Do we think some of them are on Roosevelt Avenue? Yes, we do. Is the detective bureau working those angles? Yes, they are,” Chell told amNewYork Metro. He further reported that 44 members of the syndicate are listed in the department’s gang database, with some of those individuals residing in the Queens North area.
Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry added that local residents have reported a worsening crime situation in recent years, particularly since the start of the migrant crisis. “Every time I walk Roosevelt Avenue, and I engage with the everyday New Yorkers who live there, they say that, within the last three years, that this is the worst that they have ever seen it,” Daughtry said. He noted that gang members are now moving into bars, though the NYPD has plans to address that development as well.
The situation in Queens mirrors gang-related activity in Times Square, where Los Diablos de la 42 has been responsible for numerous armed robberies and snatch-and-grab thefts in recent months. However, Chief Chell stressed that crime in Times Square is not as severe as it may seem. Robberies in the area have decreased by 12% year-to-date, and grand larcenies are down 26%, although burglaries have risen by 5%.
“The conversation is that the last couple of days, these TDA gang members, running all over Times Square, doing all sorts of crimes, robberies specifically, but the numbers don’t reflect that,” Chell said. “I don’t want to paint the picture that TDA is sitting in Times Square, robbing and stealing property.”
The NYPD is taking proactive measures to address gang activity across the city, including the introduction of a new camera pilot program aimed at enhancing surveillance. The program, expected to be implemented by the end of 2024, will connect hundreds of existing cameras to NYPD systems, enabling officers to intervene during illegal activities in real-time.
“When you look at all the intelligence of briefings that have come through, they are involved in anywhere from extortion to that pink cocaine. They’re involved in guns, retail theft, robberies, grand larcenies and the robbers,” Chell said, referring to the TDA gang’s extensive criminal network.
Even with these ongoing challenges, the NYPD emphasizes that citywide crime is still trending downward, with major felonies down 10% in the previous week alone. Chell reaffirmed the department’s commitment to treating gang members as they would any other criminals, regardless of their migrant status. “If we just take the migrant status off of their title, we’re gonna treat them like any other crime,” Chell said. “They’re being dealt with the same way that a crew conspiring to commit whatever crime.”
