NYPD confiscates stolen merchandise from Queens migrant vendors

QUEENS - The NYPD raided a strip of illegal street vendors in Queens for the second day in a row.

According to the New York Post, cops were on Roosevelt Avenue and 91st Street on Tuesday around 1 p.m. and confiscated merchandise lying on blankets that was apparently stolen. 

Most of the street vendors along Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights are thought to be migrants. NYC Mayor Eric Adams believes a lot of them are turning to different ways to make money because some of them are not legally authorized to work. 

Video from Monday’s raid showed officers confiscating merchandise ranging from clothes, jewelry and power tools. Some of the goods were reportedly stolen. Adams says the situation is a byproduct of the migrant crisis.

"Some of the problems we're facing, you know, in our city, this is the byproduct of bringing thousands of people to a city and telling them they cannot work," Adams said. "This is what we're seeing."

Early Wednesday morning, several police cruisers were seen patrolling Roosevelt Avenue following the raids.

Quality of life issues are nothing new in that part of Jackson Heights. Neighbors and businesses have repeatedly complained about prostitution in the area. 

Back in January, the NYPD shut down multiple brothels along Roosevelt Avenue. At first glance, they looked like massage parlors, but authorities believe prostitution and sex trafficking were taking place in the locations. 

One resident told FOX 5 NY he and his neighbors were well-aware of what was going on within the walls of the shop.

"All I see, girls call in customers, saying massage, massage and sometime, they even grab the customers inside. That’s what I see a lot," he recalled. 

City councilman Francisco Moya, who represents the community, tipped off police to the sex trafficking area, saying brothels had parents in the community uneasy knowing they were operating within just feet of a school at one point.