Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) drew backlash after touting the installation of new trash cans on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens. The congresswoman, a founding member of the progressive “Squad,” promoted the effort on social media earlier this month as part of her “war on trash.”
“After meeting with local vendors and business owners, my office reached out to the New York City Department of Sanitation about the need for more trash cans along Roosevelt Ave,” AOC wrote on August 8. “Thanks to their quick response, 51 trash cans were installed! Grateful for their partnership in keeping our community clean!”
Critics quickly mocked her for overlooking the steady flow of johns, pimps, and prostitutes along the avenue’s notorious “Market of Sweethearts.” “Celebrating garbage cans is like putting sprinkles on s–t and calling it a birthday cake,” quipped Elmhurst’s Ramses Frias, who’s running as a Republican candidate for City Council in Queens’ 25th District, the New York Post reported. “It’s all for show.”
“Of course, AOC won’t speak about what’s really happening here so she can keep up the facade that her district is amazing and a paradise,” Frias added.
AOC, a Democrat and member of the progressive “Squad,” announced her “war on trash” in a social media post earlier this month. “That’s all you’re worried about on Roosevelt Ave?” riffed John Lomonaco on Facebook.
Queens residents, business owners, and civic leaders have criticized AOC for being absent in efforts to address problems along the Roosevelt Avenue red-light district.
Locals say the corridor has been overrun by prostitution and unlicensed street vendors, issues worsened by gangs that gained a foothold during the city’s migrant crisis. Community members have even called on the FBI to investigate alleged ties between the Market of Sweethearts and organized crime.
“I have not personally seen Ocasio-Cortez since she’s been elected. I have not seen her in the community,” Rosa Sanchez, president of the Restore Roosevelt Avenue Coalition, told The Post earlier this summer. “I have seen her in a parade — that’s it.”
AOC has previously defended prostitution as legitimate work and pushed for decriminalization.
The city Sanitation Department, meanwhile, told The Post it had replaced 48 missing trash baskets along Roosevelt Avenue — not the 51 AOC claimed — as part of routine replacements carried out citywide.
