A former sex worker who previously worked at the Market of Sweethearts in New York has described how she was forced to sleep with twenty men on her first night.
Kika Certa came to the Big Apple from Venezuela after falling in love with a man and believing she would stay with his family.
Instead, Certa found herself on Roosevelt Avenue, also known as the Sweetheart Market, in the borough of Queens after she was forced to work as a prostitute in the early 1990s.
Certa told the New York Post she decided to speak out about her ordeal after hearing Mayor Eric Adams say migrants were being used in sex trafficking in Queens.
Using a pseudonym, Certa told the outlet with tears streaming down her cheeks, “I slept with 20 men my first night.” I couldn’t say who. They just came in one by one. That was the worst night of my life.’
Certa was located on Roosevelt Avenue, also known as the Sweetheart Market, in the borough of Queens. The street can be seen here in current pictures
The 51-year-old said she was offered accommodation in the city after meeting and falling in love with a man named Daniel in Venezuela.
Certa was introduced to his cousin Sandra, who lived in town and with whom she would stay.
After she arrived at JFK Airport in 1992, the offer of a better life changed and Sandra took $3,000 she had saved and her passport upon landing.
Certa said, “I saved $3,000 which I brought here to the United States.”
“I remember when she left the airport she immediately took my passport and money.”
After two weeks, the couple sat down with Certa and told her she had to prostitute herself to pay off a debt in Daniel’s name.
She recalled: “[Sandra] said Daniel lived here and owed her a lot of money.
“And then she said, ‘You’re going to pay the money and the way you’re going to pay is by prostituting yourself.’
Certa was located on Roosevelt Avenue, also known as the Sweetheart Market, and one of the brothels in the area can be seen here
After two weeks, the couple sat down with Certa and told her she had to prostitute herself to pay off a debt in Daniel’s name
To pay off the debt, she was told she would have to become a prostitute. Seen here is the interior of one of Queens’ current brothels
Certa was taken to a house at 92nd and Roosevelt Avenue, given the name Lily, and forced to work as a sex worker.
She said: “When she took me there she said, ‘This is a new girl. She is fresh. She’s only 20 years old.”
Certa said that every time she opened the door and there was a knock, there was another man standing there paying $35 each and giving her a few dollars tip.
She added: “I had no mind, no soul.” “I just get up in the morning, go eat something, then go back to sleep and wait until I have to go back to work.”
Certa told the Post she tried to hide from Sandra but was always found and was arrested five times.
She eventually demanded her passport back and agreed to pay the woman more money for her release.
Certa is now married with three daughters, but is disturbed by recent reports of Venezuelan women she sees working in brothels on the same street.
She said, “They’re not there because they want to be.” That’s because they were forced into it somehow and they’re broken somehow. Once they’re broken, there’s no way out.’
Certa was taken to a house at 92nd and Roosevelt Avenue, given the name Lily, and forced to work as a sex worker. Workers are seen here on Roosevelt Avenue
Earlier this week, Mayor Eric Adams said the refugee crisis had led to an increase in the number of prostitutes on the streets
Earlier this month, Mayor Eric Adams said the city had a huge new red light district due to the arrival of Venezuelan migrants working as prostitutes.
In recent weeks, sex workers have been seen on the streets during the day, with many aggressively soliciting even after children get home from school or during lunch breaks, Pix 11 reported.
Previously, the Bronx was home to the highest concentration of sex workers in the Big Apple.
Mayor Adams said the situation is just one of many impacts of the refugee crisis on the city, which has welcomed more than 120,000 new asylum seekers since last spring.
When asked by reporters about the open-air sex market, Adams said he had been made aware of the situation and had visited the area himself and confirmed that “illegal” activities were taking place in public at all times of the day and night.
Adams continued: “This is what happens when you create an atmosphere that people cannot provide for themselves and have to resort to illegal activities to do so.”
“When I talk about the dramatic impact that will impact our city, this is exactly what I mean.”
“We will create generational problems because of the failure of the national government and this is an example.”
Prostitution is considered a Class B misdemeanor in New York and is punishable by up to three months in prison and/or a fine of up to $500.
Patronizing a prostitute is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison and/or a fine of up to $1,000.
We’ve previously reported how schoolchildren complained about being forced to chase after prostitutes in broad daylight in the Queens neighborhood.
Jalene Lugo, 14, said she passed several provocatively dressed women in a 93rd Street doorway earlier this week, and not for the first time.
“During school hours they are outside,” the high school freshman told PIX 11 News. “They’ll be out with their pimps and they won’t care.”
Other residents described the scene as “a red light district, similar to Bangkok.”
Ramsay Frias, of Elmhurst, told the outlet, “It’s scary that there’s no moral compass anymore. “It was never perfect when I was growing up, but now it’s lawless.”
Jalene’s mother, Massiel Lugo, a local activist who has previously held rallies on the issue, says more needs to be done to ensure the area’s safety for youth
Jalene’s mother, Massiel Lugo, a local activist who has previously held rallies on the issue, says more needs to be done to keep the area safe for youth.
Lugo said, “We understand that these women need money, but they shouldn’t be doing this while they’re in school.” “We’re seeing more Latina women engaging in prostitution.”
She has launched a petition to “take back” the community, which has so far garnered more than 1,600 signatures.
In June, a facility in Woodside was closed following an undercover police sting operation. Two women in their 60s were arrested for prostitution.
Neighbors have been calling for the closure for some time, saying there are other brothels in the area, the Jackson Heights Post reports.