A New York City nonprofit is facing backlash for allegedly exacerbating sex trafficking in Queens by providing free condoms to prostitutes in the Roosevelt Avenue corridor, an area notorious for illicit activity. The AIDS Center of Queens County, which operates a mobile van distributing condoms and other health supplies, has drawn sharp criticism from local residents and advocacy groups who say the practice enables criminal behavior instead of curbing it.
Taxpayer-Funded Condoms Stir Outrage
According to a New York Post report, the nonprofit has been spotted handing out condoms along 41st Avenue, a hotspot for prostitution known locally as the “Market of Sweethearts.” The AIDS Center of Queens County, which claims to offer all services at no cost, holds over $40 million in active government contracts—$34 million from the city and $10 million from the state—to fund HIV prevention, syringe exchanges, and other public health initiatives.
Rosa Sanchez of the Restore Roosevelt Avenue Coalition, a local advocacy group, told the Post that residents are fed up with the lack of enforcement. “Instead of more enforcement, public money is being used to supply free condoms to the same people turning tricks on our residential blocks,” Sanchez said. “There are already condoms in every pharmacy and bodega. This is lunacy.”
Prostitution Surge Under Mayor Mamdani
The controversy comes amid reports of a spike in prostitution-related activity in the area since socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani took office. The Post previously revealed that prostitution arrests in the Roosevelt Avenue corridor have dropped by 60%, even as the number of sex workers has increased.
Meanwhile, the New York State Department of Health defends its long-standing condom distribution program, which dates back to 1983. The agency argues that providing free condoms helps prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections among high-risk populations.
Anti-Trafficking Groups Blame Demand
Exodus Cry, an anti-sex trafficking organization, contends that the root of the problem lies in male demand for paid sex. “If sex trafficking is fueled by men’s demand for prostitution, then there is ultimately only one way to abolish it,” the group states on its website. “We must eliminate the demand and reject the intrinsic ‘right’ men feel they have to vulnerable women’s bodies.”
As the debate continues, local residents say they’re left dealing with the fallout—rising crime, drug use, and brazen solicitation in their neighborhoods—while taxpayer dollars fund programs they believe only make the problem worse.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/11/09/report-nyc-group-handing-condoms-prostitutes-gets-millions-taxpayer-funds/