Christie M Farriella for New York Daily News
An apartment in the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City that was padlocked after a sweeping drug bust in which dozens of alleged drug dealers were arrested.
Rose Perez recalled the fear she felt living down the hall from some of the craven drug dealers who operate out of the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City.
“A lot of people were coming every day” to buy drugs, said Perez, 51. “I had a very, very big problem.”
Perez and other residents of the country’s largest public housing development were breathing a bit easier last week after cops busted nearly 40 alleged drug dealers on Wednesday and Thursday at Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City and Ravenswood Houses in Astoria.
The suspects, ages 18 to 57, were accused of selling heroin, cocaine, oxycodone, methamphetamine and pot to undercover cops, the Queens District Attorney’s office said.
The last big arrest at Queensbridge, which has about 7,000 residents, was in 2005.
“I’m glad that the police are doing their jobs and keeping the community free from drugs,” said Carol Wilkins, president of the Ravenswood Resident Association, which represents about 4,500 tenants. “I certainly hope this makes things better.”
Cops rounded up 38 suspected dealers Wednesday and Thursday. There were still another 13 on the loose as of Friday, the DA’s office said. The busts were part of an eight-month sting.
“It’s wonderful to see drug dealers and people who deal with handguns out,” said college student Destinee Valles, 22, who saw police cars racing up and down the streets on Thursday in Queensbridge. “That’s what’s plaguing our neighborhood.”
Erica Martinez, 32, of Queensbridge, said she worries about gun fights every time she sees the drug peddlers hanging out in front of the local supermarket.
“It’s a good thing,” she said of the arrests. “The area needs to get better.”
Eugene O’Donnell, a former cop who was a liaison to Queensbridge when he worked for the Queens DA’s office, said Queensbridge tenants tend to be particularly intolerant of dealing in the development.
“When they see drugs being sold and nobody’s doing anything about it, they think, ‘What’s up?’ ” said O’Donnell, who now teaches police studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
“They don’t want to have criminal activity and drug dealing where they live,” he said.
Last week’s crackdown didn’t stop the shooting of two young men early Friday morning at Queensbridge. Both were expected to survive.
“Do I think that [the arrests] solve all the problems?” said Councilman Jamie Van Bramer (D-Long Island City). “Of course not. But you have to start somewhere.”
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