Of the three, according to the lawsuits, the human trafficking issue is worst at the Economy Inn at E. The suit Russo filed cites numerous recent arrests there for rape and kidnapping, often with underage girls as the victims and often related to prostitution, according to police. Several men working at the hotel Wednesday declined to give their names or comment.
The hotel operators have not necessarily committed a crime, Russo said, but are culpable for facilitating the crimes that occur on their property. The hotel is equipped with multiple security cameras and several signs warning away solicitors, and Patel said he scans the ID or drivers license of everyone who rents a room, to little avail. However, if a caller reports that a minor may be involved in the prostitution, that bumps the priority of the call to the upper tier, Joshi added.
The stretches with the worst child prostitution problem run roughly from 1st to 18th avenues and from High Street to about 54th Avenue. Russo said the three hotels have been targeted specifically simply because they are the ones where the evidence is strong enough for a win in court. Joshi and Russo both said the hotel operators can do a number of simple things to tackle the problem, including requiring official ID from guests and installing gates to close off the hotel parking lots to the public.
All three hotels already require ID, and parking lots in all three are open and accessible from the street. No court date has been scheduled in any of the suits, but Russo will be considering asking for temporary restraining orders to be issued quickly, a spokesman said.
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