Ocasio-Cortez’s Constituents Rail Against Her As Crime Soars in Her District
While Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) crisscrosses the country on her self-promotional “Fight the Oligarchy” tour with Senator Bernie Sanders, the district she was elected to represent is in crisis. Crime has surged, constituents are livid, and many are beginning to question whether their so-called progressive representative has abandoned the people who sent her to Washington in the first place.
According to The New York Post, since AOC took office in 2019, major crime has skyrocketed by 70 percent in her Bronx-Queens district. The 110th Precinct in Queens, home to parts of the notorious Roosevelt Avenue — dubbed the “Market of Sweethearts” due to rampant human trafficking and prostitution — has seen a staggering 105% increase in major crimes. The nearby 115th Precinct saw an 85% increase.
Major crimes tracked include murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny, and auto theft.
While Ocasio-Cortez is busy elevating her national profile and speculating about higher office, her district is being left behind — and her constituents are taking notice.
“She’s not doing s–t. She doesn’t live in the neighborhood, she doesn’t care,” said Elmhurst resident Guadalupe Alvarez, a former supporter of the congresswoman.
Alvarez, who once dreamed of raising a family in the community, now says she’s desperate to leave.
“I can’t wait to get – pardon my language – the f–k out of here,” she told The Post. “It makes me so sad that they’ve done that to push me out of my neighborhood. And I’m not the only one... I could never have a family here.”
Alvarez recalled attempting to address the worsening safety issues at a town hall event last year, only to be brushed aside.
“I asked, ‘Are you aware of how horrible it’s gotten? When was the last time you were in Jackson Heights, Elmhurst?’ She ignored me and told me, ‘You can ask this person questions,’” referring to an assistant. “She did a very silent exit through the back.”
Alvarez didn’t hold back: “It’s disrespectful. You’re there because of people from my community, and you’re not doing s–t for our community.”
Others echoed the frustration.
“You have a mouth to speak up. People are suffering. They’re scared to go outside,” said Republican City Council candidate Ramses Frias.
The congresswoman’s anti-police rhetoric appears to have further fueled the crisis. In June 2020, Ocasio-Cortez infamously declared, “Defunding police means defunding police.” She doubled down again in 2022, falsely claiming police budgets have no impact on crime levels.
Hannah Meyers, Director of Policing and Public Safety at the Manhattan Institute, called AOC’s ideological crusade dangerous.
“Nobody wants to be a police officer — it’s been so villainized. That affects every function that the police do,” Meyers explained. “It’s her district, she’s supposed to be looking out for people there. She has such a myopic focus on race... You’re not helping the victims of crime by talking about how the system is racist.”
Meyers emphasized that the majority of crime victims in AOC’s district are Black and Hispanic — the very people she claims to champion.
Betsy Brantner Smith of the National Police Association said the congresswoman’s national rhetoric is wildly disconnected from the reality on the ground.
“She talks about the whole fighting the oligarchy, and that’s what she’s all about — the poor people. And yet most people in her district are fearful. They don’t feel like they can walk out the door without encountering a drug dealer, or a purse snatcher, or a hooker,” Smith said. “And that goes against everything that she claims to stand for. If you don’t feel safe, you’re not free.”
While AOC travels the country touting socialist slogans and promoting herself as a national figure, her district is deteriorating — and the people who elected her are the ones paying the price.