<p class="speakable">Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., on Wednesday sounded the alarm over an "open air drug market" in a Bronx business district where addicts and prostitutes are often seen, saying <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/new-york-city" rel="noopener" target="_blank">New York City</a> has become a "bystander" to the lawlessness. </p><p class="speakable">For at least the past year, Torres has been trying to raise awareness of drug use and drug trafficking at The Hub in the South Bronx. </p><p>"Despite my repeated pleas and multiple announcements of multi-agency operations—often launched with great fanfare—the City is no closer to solving the public health and safety crisis that has taken hold of the South Bronx's Hub," Torres wrote in a Wednesday letter to Mayor Eric Adams.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/aoc-progressives-ripped-ignoring-red-light-district-prostitution-filthy-streets-return" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong><u>AOC, PROGRESSIVES RIPPED FOR IGNORING 'RED LIGHT' DISTRICT AS PROSTITUTION, FILTHY STREETS RETURN</u></strong></a></p><p>"The City must demonstrate a renewed whole-of-government commitment to reclaiming the Hub from the grip of <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/health/mental-health/drug-and-substance-abuse" rel="noopener" target="_blank">drug trafficking</a> and return it where it rightfully belongs: to the people of the Bronx," he added. </p><p>The Hub, home to Roberto Clemente Plaza, comprises more than 300 storefronts, 50 commercial properties and attracts more than 3.3 million people annually. </p><p>Locals have been subjected to watching addicts inject opioids in full public view, including in front of children, Torres said. The environment has created a "climate of lawlessness and disorder" in the area, he said. </p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/pastor-corey-brooks-im-building-hope-chicagos-notorious-south-side" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong><u>PASTOR COREY BROOKS: I'M BUILDING HOPE ON CHICAGO'S NOTORIOUS SOUTH SIDE</u></strong></a></p><p>"The Department of Transportation has effectively lost control of Roberto Clemente Plaza, which has become a nightmare for quality of life, public health and <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/crime" rel="noopener" target="_blank">public safety</a> – delivering no benefit to residents," Torres said. </p><p>Fox News Digital has reached out to the mayor's office. </p><p>"The Adams administration agrees that the decades-long issues plaguing ‘The Hub’ in the Bronx are unacceptable, which is why we brought our ‘Community Link’ model to the neighborhood — a multi-agency operation of surged resources to address substance abuse, mental health, homeless outreach, sanitation, and other quality-of-life issues that prevent this part of the South Bronx from reaching its full potential," an Adams spokesperson told the <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/09/us-news/rep-ritchie-torres-blasts-nyc-for-failing-to-clean-up-broadway-of-the-bronx-as-report-finds-its-overrun-with-junkies/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">New York Post</a>. </p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/apps-products?pid=AppArticleLink" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP</strong></a></p><p>The business district has been plagued with quality of life issues for some time. In 2021, business leaders sent then-Mayor Bill de Blasio a letter demanding he do more to address rising crime in the area. </p>