By The TimesLedger
Last week police arrested six men on charges that they are running a multimillion-dollar prostitution enterprise in Long Island City. The suspected pimps face up to seven years in prison if they are convicted. District Attorney Richard Brown is also considering charging the six men with enterprise corruption, a charge that could land them behind bars for as much as 25 years. In addition, Brown is going after the fancy cars, money and other holdings of the alleged pimps.
It's about time. Everyone in law enforcement knows that if the city hopes to end or greatly reduce street prostitution, it must start by getting tough on the pimps. In many cases, perhaps most, these are vicious criminals who use violence and intimidation to turn young women into slaves. Police estimate that the six alleged pimps arrested in Operation Plaza Boys made more than $2.2 million last year. The demanded that the women in their “stables” earn $1,000 a night. Two of the men arrested allegedly forced a 12-year-old runaway to walk the streets for them.
“On any given night, dozens of street walkers frequent an eight-square-block area at the foot of the Queensboro Bridge, aggressively blocking traffic while selling their wares and intruding upon the quality of life of those who live and work in the area,” said Brown
The prostitutes and their johns have been easy targets. The johns are routinely caught by undercover police pretending to be ladies of the night. Seizing the automobiles of men arrested for trying to pick up a prostitute proved effective, but the penalty at times appeared to outweigh the offense.
The prostitutes were just as easy to nab. But arresting streetwalkers did little to slow down prostitution. These pitiful women waltz through the revolving door of justice. The next day they are back at work.
But making charges stick against a pimp is far more difficult. Police say that bringing the charges against the alleged pimps requires “meticulous tenacious surveillance.” No doubt. But making these arrests is worth the effort.
Waiting for the AirTrain
The future of downtown Jamaica is tied at the hip to the success of the AirTrain. Although we have often referred to the AirTrain – a project forced on New York City by the Port Authority – as the Boondoggle Express, we keep hoping that we are wrong.
Although work on the AirTrain was halted temporarily by the attack on the World Trade Center, the Port Authority claims it is confident that the project will be completed on schedule in 2003.
The Greater Jamaica Development Corporation is hopeful that the train connecting Kennedy Airport with Midtown Manhattan will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new investments in Jamaica. Although air travel has declined significantly since Sept. 11, the officials say they expect the travelers to return.
Whether they will is anybody's guess. It also remains to be seen whether business travelers will take the AirTrain. Nevertheless, we wish the GJDC great success.
Jamaica, like the rest of southeast Queens, has been a classic underachiever. Whether or not the AirTrain succeeds, it is time for Jamaica to come into its own. The plans of the GJDC are ambitious but not unrealistic. Hotels, new stores and office buildings will create thousands of jobs and improve the quality of life in this part of Queens. We wish everyone involved great success.
