When I worked on Capitol Hill back when Washington was a real swamp and dinosaurs roamed the Mall, there were basically two kinds of members of Congress: Those who wanted to be president and those who only pretended they didn’t want to be president.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has never tried to hide her ambition. She’s been a woman on “the make” from day one of her first term, and she really hasn’t cared about anyone objecting.
AOC knows that “these things must be done delicately,” as the Wicked Witch of the West might have advised. Grasping for power is frowned upon by many constituents and party leaders alike, who try to put a damper on naked ambition.
AOC found that out within weeks of taking office. She threatened to primary Democrats who weren’t sufficiently race-conscious, referring to some less progressive members as segregationists. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slapped her down hard.
The Pelosi-AOC feud has continued to the detriment of her career. Last year, AOC was hoping to be named to the top spot on the powerful Oversight Committee. Pelosi blocked her ascension, proving to AOC that moving up in the Democratic Party will be harder than she thought.
Through all of this political maneuvering to further her career, AOC has forgotten the people who got her to where she is: her long-suffering constituents. From 2019 to 2025, murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and auto theft have jumped 70%.
You might claim that a congresswoman’s actions or inactions have little to do with the crime rate. That would be true if AOC hadn’t been a prominent voice in the “Defund the Police” movement.
“The 115th Precinct, which also serves part of Roosevelt Avenue in addition to Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, and north Corona, saw major offenses rise by 85%” reports the New York Post.
Ocasio-Cortez’s district takes in two police districts that are among the worst in the city. And some residents are pointing the finger at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“She’s not doing s–t. She doesn’t live in the neighborhood, she doesn’t care,” said Elmhurst resident Guadelupe Alvarez, who has lived in the neighborhood her entire life.
Alvarez, 34, a former AOC supporter, has had to endure a brothel setting up across the street from her childhood home, and the drunken men she says constantly swarm in and out of the place. She said she also regularly witnesses gang activity, car thefts and assaults, but nothing gets done.
She used to dream of building a life in the neighborhood, but not anymore.
“I can’t wait to get – pardon my language – the f–k out of here. It makes me so sad that they’ve done that to push me out of my neighborhood. And I’m not the only one. . . . I could never have a family here.”
Alvarez tried raising the issue with Ocasio-Cortez when she met her at a town hall in the Bronx last year, but got nowhere.
“I asked, ‘Are you aware of how horrible it’s gotten? When was the last time you were in Jackson Heights, Elmhurst?’ She ignored me and told me, ‘You can ask this person questions’ … who I guess was her assistant. She did a very silent exit through the back.
Critics have also pointed out that her anti-cop rhetoric has affected recruitment at the New York City Police Academy.
The director of policing and public safety at the Manhattan Institute, Hannah Meyers, said, “Nobody wants to be a police officer, it’s been so villainized.”
“It’s her district, she’s supposed to be looking out for people there,” she added. “She has such a myopic focus on race. You’re not helping the victims of crime by talking about how the system is racist.”
This kind of rhetoric from a prominent member of the community has a real-world effect. AOC either isn’t aware of that or doesn’t care. If it isn’t useful to her ambition for high office, it can be ignored.
Help PJ Media continue to tell the truth about the Trump administration’s accomplishments as we continue to usher in the Golden Era of America. Join PJ Media VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
