Community advocates gathered in Corona Tuesday to call on Homeland Security and Trump border czar Tom Homan to take action against crime on Roosevelt Avenue and help “clean up” the area.
The group, including former State Sen. Hiram Monserrate and members of the Neighbors of the American Triangle community group, gathered outside the shuttered Los Primos Barber Shop at 102-03 41st St., an establishment they say has been forced to close due to the presence of a large number homeless individuals in the area.
Advocates said the same group of homeless individuals congregates in the rear of the NYC Health Department building at the rear of 34-43 Junction Blvd and inside of the Park of the Americas located at 103-08 42nd Ave., stating that their presence causes fear along local community members.
They also alleged that a Corona resident was assaulted outside 41-07 National St. on Sunday after complaining about the presence of homeless individuals in the area. The NYPD had no information about any assault taking place in the area.
Monserrate and Mauricio Zamora, president of the Neighbors of the American Triangle community group, penned a letter to Homan calling for federal assistance along Roosevelt Avenue.
“The situation here in Corona, Jackson Heights and Elmhurst is outrageous,” Monserrate and Zamora said in a letter to Homan.
“Over the past seven months, our community has risen to confront a wave of lawlessness that landed here about a year and a half ago.”
They added that Roosevelt Avenue has been under “criminal siege,” stating that a number of crime entities have taken control of the thoroughfare.
“Our quality of life has been eviscerated,” Monserrate and Zamora said.
Monserrate, who was expelled from the New York State Senate following a 2009 misdemeanor domestic violence assault conviction, said Tuesday that he has called on Homan to establish a full field investigation along Roosevelt Avenue. He said he has also called on Homan to investigate the 16 alleged brothels and prostitution hotspots along or near Roosevelt Avenue as well as calling for an investigation into an international crime ring operating in the neighborhood.
Zamora, meanwhile, said the community needs federal assistance in order to tackle rising crime in the area.
“We need the Federal government to secure the community once and for all. We are prepared to cooperate as a community with the Homeland Security Office to save our community,” Zamora said in a statement.
Monserrate told reporters Tuesday that the presence of homeless individuals along Roosevelt Avenue is impacting local businesses, pointing to the closure of Los Primos barbershop.
“They couldn’t compete with the vagrants because the barbers would have 10-20 vagrants using drugs and drinking right here,” Monserrate said during a press conference Tuesday.
“This should not be happening anywhere in America, much less Queens County.”
