Critics claim taxpayer-funded NYC group is handing out condoms outside of brothel as neighbors fume

Community activists in Queens have accused the AIDS Center of Queens County of encouraging street prostitution by distributing condoms near brothels on Roosevelt Avenue. They say the activity conflicts with efforts to curb crime and trafficking, and are calling for an investigation and a pause in state funding.

The nonprofit holds more than $40 million in active public contracts, including at least $34 million with New York City and $10 million with the state, for housing, sexual health and other services. The state also allocated it $250,000 in 2024 for support for trafficking survivors and awarded $500,000 over five years for a youth safe-spaces programme. The article ends as the organisation’s executive director, Rosemary Lopez, begins to respond.