State Sen. Jessica Ramos speaks about quality of life issues on Roosevelt Avenue outside the 74 St-Broadway subway station. Photo: Shane O’Brien
Jan. 17, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
State Sen. Jessica Ramos has unveiled plans to redevelop the 74 St-Broadway subway station in Jackson Heights as part of a broader effort to improve quality of life along Roosevelt Avenue.
Speaking Thursday, Ramos announced her intention to secure additional funding in the State Budget to enhance the station’s appearance and add retail space. She emphasized the station’s significance as a gateway for many tourists arriving in New York City, given its connection to LaGuardia Airport via the Q70 bus.
While acknowledging the $25 million already allocated by the state legislature for the installation of elevators at the station, Ramos stressed that the funding falls short of what is needed to fully address the station’s potential and improve its role in the community.
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“We believe that updating and improving the 74th Street station is, of course, going to help make our neighborhood more beautiful,” Ramos said at a press conference outside the station on Jan. 16.
The press conference featured several prominent local community leaders and members of the Street Vendor Project, an organization that advocates for street vendors across New York City. Together, they called for sustained, long-term investments in the neighborhood to address persistent quality-of-life issues.
Sen. Ramos emphasized the need for community-focused initiatives to combat crime and improve public safety along Roosevelt Avenue, highlighting issues such as prostitution, shoplifting, and garbage accumulation.
Ramos also criticized Mayor Eric Adams’ Operation Restore Roosevelt, a 90-day, multi-agency policing initiative aimed at tackling quality-of-life concerns in the area. The program concluded earlier this week, but Ramos argued that it fell short of addressing the root causes of the neighborhood’s challenges.
Adams and Moya visit Roosevelt Avenue. Photo: Office of Council Member Francisco Moya
Council Member Francisco Moya, who launched Operation Restore Roosevelt with Mayor Eric Adams last October, stated last week that the initiative would continue indefinitely with no set end date. However, Sen. Ramos expressed skepticism, saying she has not seen any concrete plans outlining how the operation will proceed beyond its original deadline.
Ramos criticized the policing plan, stating it led to the arrest of “waves and waves” of immigrant women while failing to target the “traffickers and pimps who are exploiting women.” She argued that the initiative disproportionately punished vulnerable individuals without addressing the systemic issues driving the exploitation.
“The vast majority of these women are not engaging in prostitution because they wanted to, but because they’re forced to,” Ramos said. “This is coerced prostitution.”
Ramos, who is challenging Adams in the 2025 mayoral election, said Operation Restore Roosevelt has resulted in less foot traffic along the avenue because increased police presence has provoked fear among the area’s undocumented population. She added that gang members who operate in the area have “not even flinched” in response to increased police presence.
Economic and community investments
Ramos said increasing the number of permits for street vendors and work permits for undocumented immigrants living in the area would help tackle quality-of-life issues along Roosevelt Avenue by helping people find reliable employment without turning to prostitution or unlicensed street vending, which can result in hefty fines and penalties.
She also suggested that initiatives such as improving the pavement on sidewalks along the avenue and installing LED lighting to improve visibility underneath the elevated 7 tracks would help improve public safety along the thoroughfare.
Ramos called for the passage of the Pro-Banking Act, which would allow IDNYC holders to open accounts in state-chartered banks, as well as calling for a $100 million investment in the Ellis Island Ready to Work Initiative, which would create workforce training and regional development hubs for ready-to-work immigrants.
Meanwhile, Ramos said Operation Restore Roosevelt did not address trash pile-ups along the avenue by installing more trash cans, stating that there have been “fewer and fewer” trash cans along the avenue over the past three years. The lack of trash cans has “created a scapegoat” out of immigrant street vendors by making it more difficult for them to clean up, Ramos added.
Krystle Jimenez, principal of PS19Q in Corona, said community policing was just “one piece” of the required approach to addressing quality-of-life issues on Roosevelt Avenue.
“I want my students to graduate from my school and leave my school and go into the community and feel safe and feel like this community is being valued by the city.”
Freddy Castiblanco, founder of Jackson Heights music hub Terraza 7, said issues such as prostitution were the results of economic need, adding that investment in health, education and small businesses is crucial to tackling issues in the area.
“Operation Restore Roosevelt, a set of punitive measures, falls short if it is not accompanied by initiatives that promote economic and human development,” Castiblanco told Thursday’s press conference.
The Mayor’s office said in a statement that Operation Restore Roosevelt has led to the closure of a dozen illegal brothels and sex shops during the 90-day period. Additionally, the mayor’s office said that the NYPD’s Human Trafficking Squad offered services to more than 100 individuals as part of the multi-agency operation.
“This work is noticeably improving life in the neighborhood — so much so that community groups have publicly called for us to extend the operation — while offering vital services to vulnerable populations in hopes of improving their lives,” Adams spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said in a statement.
Sources close to the mayor’s office indicated that Sen. Ramos would not have access to details about plans to extend Operation Restore Roosevelt as she is not directly involved in the initiative.
