Flushing Rep To Host Seminar Aimed At Combating Sex Trafficking

FLUSHING, QUEENS — City officials are partnering with police to host a seminar aimed at combating human trafficking in Flushing, City Council Member Peter Koo announced Friday.

Koo, the NYPD and the mayor’s office are joining forces with community organizations for the seminar, which will educate locals on sex trafficking and the services available to victims. The seminar takes place on March 29 at 6 p.m. in the Queens Library at Flushing.

The organizations co-hosting the event are the Queens Family Justice Center, Garden of Hope, Chinese Christian Herald Crusades, Korean American Family Service Center and Samaritans NYC.

"We are working to make sure that those trafficked have access to services, and that our community knows what to look out for," Koo said in a statement. "Sex trafficking needs to be addressed with tremendous sensitivity so victims can be sure they are safe."

The seminar follows reports that women arrested in a recent Florida massage-parlor sting — including at the parlor where Patriots owner Robert Kraft allegedly solicited sex — had previously worked in Flushing, according to the New York Post.

“The one thing they have in common is home base is in Flushing, New York,” a Florida law enforcement officer told the Post. “It’s the first point these women hit. That’s where they are getting documents.”

Last week, Koo announced efforts to crack down on a series of brothels posing as massage parlors on 40th Road in Flushing.

Once affectionately called "Restaurant Row," 40th Road has become a red light district where girls solicit pedestrians for sex, the New York Post reported. In 2017, a 40th Road sex worker leapt to her death as police were about to arrest her.

Chinese-speaking victims of domestic and gender-based violence, including trafficking victims, can receive free and confidential assistance from Garden of Hope by calling 718-321-8862.