Jackson Heights Life

Isn't it legal in Amsterdam? Should it not be legal there too?

Sex trafficking, enslavement, and intimidation are most certainly not legal in Amsterdam. And a lot of the ladies behind closed doors on Roosevelt don't want to turn to the authorities for help because, La Migra, or because they and their families have been threatened by traffickers, pimps, coyotes and the like.

I'm baffled by the fact that there is such blatant prostitution happening in a residential neighborhood as well.  I suspect the city doesn't do more about it because it's too much of an undertaking with too little payout (for the same reason 42nd St wasn't cleaned up until there was money to be made).  Otherwise, I can't imagine why it's allowed to go on.  I see cops on Roos at night all the time but they're clearly looking the other way.

My theory is that as long as Jackson Heights was considered only "diverse" and not a profitable neighborhood to develop, it was convenient for law enforcement to allow a sex corridor here, so the increasingly wealthy and fortress minded residents of Manhattan didn't have to deal/look at it. (Basically we and LIC got Times Square after Guiliani and the developers shut the in-your-face sex trade down.) Now that LIC is desirable all those strip clubs etc. are getting pushed out. For a long time the middle class population of JH didn't have enough clout to really effect fabric of life changes here, now that there's money being pushed into JH, things will gradually change. Unfortunately JH is maddening and mind-boggling slow to deal with fabric of life issues, so even with the money, it will still take some time. JH residents aren't asking for much, just not to have to run the gauntlet of sex clubs etc and pick up chica chica cards off their front stoop in the morning. I live in a the historic district and in the morning I often see used condoms in the gutter because the prostitutes drive over with their johns to a quiet spot on a  side street to be intimate. Just my take on it.

What makes you think that people on this board don't take action? Many people here are involved in local organizations, attend community board meetings etc. For instance did you take note of the protest re the proposed alteration of the building at 85th and 37th Avenue. Many people are involved in the distribution of a petition, and will be attending the public hearing, some are on the speakers list.  I was involved in the distribution of a petition promoting the BID, and some people were for, and some people were against. I attended meetings and events. There are many examples of people taking action on this board.

A message board is a place for people to share ideas It's a place for people to share their thoughts on local issues, and people can blablabla to their hearts content. (even if it's just to express observations and frustrations) It's what a message board "Forum" is about. I don't always agree with people on this board, and they don't always agree with me, but if you are a member of this board and don't violate the ground rules (being respectful mostly) you can blablabla until the cows come home. And sharing ideas is the first step to "tak[ing] some action."

I live here too: yeah, yeah.

I'm just asking questions here.


It is crazy that so many people live here and it's going on so prevalently. It is going on still in LIC and Flushing, but mostly in the industrial sections. Our area is no way industrial, so how is it so out in the open? Lots of good points going on here.

Quote from: Jeffsayyes on June 11, 2015, 01:21:15 AM

Isn't it legal in Amsterdam? Should it not be legal there too?

To me, there's monumental difference between women who choose, for whatever reason, to work legally as prostitutes and the women and girls who are forced to work at "massage" parlors.  Much has been written about sex trafficking of helpless young women and men and, if you read about it, it will break your heart.

What has to happen is that undercover police have to pretend they're clients and go inside to see what's going on.

I know it's illegal to call what you do "massage" without a NY State Massage Therapy license, for starters.  Once the detective sees there is no licensed massage person, he can begin to talk to the women he finds inside and see if they would like help.

This requires a carefully thought out plan on the part of the police and the will to expend the time and long-term effort necessary to see that these kind of sleazy operators no longer feel comfortable operating here.

I mean look at the NYT investigative report on the nail salons. If those are that bad, I don't even want to think about what the people forced into prostitution are dealing with. And days later after that report about nail salons was published, Cuomo puts together a TASK FORCE to work the issue. Where's the task force for human trafficking and prostitution? Don't get me wrong I realize the nail salon problem is more wide spread and probably safer to tackle, frankly. I doubt any nail salon owners are going to shoot at you.

Apparently there is a Roosevelt Avenue Task Force that was established in 1991 to combat this.

The amount of articles about it is huge now that I'm sifting through it.