Police moved in on Brooklyn’s open-air prostitution market — arresting 11 men and seizing nine vehicles — following last week’s front-page Post exposé on the brazen enterprise, authorities said Friday.
The NYPD operation on Thursday night targeted men driving along the four-block industrial stretch in East New York seeking sex, law-enforcement sources said.
“Brooklyn residents pointed out prostitution problems in East New York — and the NYPD acted,” the NYPD said in a statement on Twitter.
The sting reflected “our efforts to stop those who buy and promote sex for sale in NYC,” the department said.
Ten men were nabbed for allegedly patronizing a person for prostitution, and one man was arrested for driving while under the influence, cops said.
The operation involved undercover female officers, according to the sources.
The crackdown came after The Post reported on the heavily trafficked “stroll,” where a steady stream of scantily clad women — many of them likely trafficking victims under the thumb of nearby pimps — have openly enticed motorists for months amid lax enforcement.
Current and former vice cops said there had been little incentive to make arrests, with the office of Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez moving away from prosecuting prostitution cases.
Sex-trafficking experts have told The Post that targeting pimps and johns — not the women — is the surest way to undermine the industry. But busts for pimps and johns, who drive the sex trade, have also dropped significantly, data show.
When asked about the Thursday’s sting, a DA spokesman said the arrests were for solicitation, “an offense our office never stopped prosecuting.”
The spokesman reiterated the office’s previous statement regarding its prosecution of prostitution cases.
“Since the start of this year our office declined to prosecute a grand total of three prostitution-related arrests,” the statement said. “We have a Sex Trafficking Unit that vigorously prosecutes pimps and traffickers while working with service providers to get assistance to victims of trafficking.”
“We stand ready to engage with communities, advocates and the police to address any concerns involving prostitution.”
