NYC Street Overrun by Thieves Sees Surge in Prostitutes Doubling in 2 Months

A crime-infested stretch of Jackson Heights — where hookers openly ply their trade and brazen shoplifters run amok — has gotten even worse since The Post blew the whistle nearly five months ago. Roosevelt Avenue near 91st Street in Queens, which has been marred by an illegal open-air migrant market and dozens of sidewalk sex workers, now has twice as many hookers pacing the block, locals say. Thieves have gotten so defiant that they now threaten to take revenge on merchants when they’re nabbed, locals said Sunday. “It’s getting worse,” said Jesus Diaz, manager of Bravo Supermarket on Roosevelt Avenue. “It used to be when we catch them stealing, they’ saying, ‘Oh I’m sorry, please, I’ll never do it again.’