AOC under fire over alleged inattention to constituent concerns
Amid a heated war of words with embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is facing fresh criticism over the attention -- or lack thereof -- that she pays to the needs of her constituents.
As Fox News reports, the progressive “Squad” firebrand is taking heat not just from Adams but also from those she was elected to represent over the deteriorating “third-world” conditions seen in parts of her congressional district.
AOC called out
The sights and sounds regularly observed in part of AOC's home district have been likened to the red-light districts of Bangkok, and locals are increasingly placing blame at the feet of their elected representative to Congress.
Barely-dressed migrant sex workers are said to line entire blocks at all hours of the day, offering services to anyone and everyone while pimps threaten and harass those simply trying to run an honest business.
Similarly dire are what Fox News described as the “trash-filled streets of Roosevelt Avenue in Queens,” where unlicensed vendors sell goods and food without any health inspections or appropriate certifications and where birds and vermin feast on the leftovers.
Activist and community member Ramses Frias has seen enough and is shining on light on the elected officials he says have let things get out of hand.
“This area has been run rampant with prostitution. It's just been out of control and the lawlessness continues to happen. This doesn't feel like my home. I've been here my whole life, and this feels like I'm a tourist in a Third World country,” he said.
Leadership AWOL
Frias and Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa have called on Adams to do more to address the situation, but they also believe Ocasio-Cortez has failed in her duty to those who put her in office.
According to Frias, AOC has not been seen anywhere in the neighborhood in question since an August 2023 rally in which she blasted city officials for conducting a crackdown on illegal vendors.
“She does not visit this area; this is actually an area where she campaigned the hardest and a lot of people went out [to vote] for her, and she doesn't come over here. She has totally neglected us,” he said.
Amid critiques from the likes of Frias and Sliwa, AOC has been busy taking Adams to task for his recent indictment on bribery and campaign finance charges, demanding that he resign -- presumably to wake way for a far-left replacement.
Adams retorted, as Politico noted, that he does not “listen to those comments that come from a, you know, just basically a no-show congresswoman. She's not doing constituent service in her district,” but while the high-powered finger-pointing and name calling continues, those stuck in the neighborhood will assuredly continue to suffer.