By Joe Hutchison For Dailymail. An ex-sex worker who previously worked on the 'Market of Sweethearts' in New York has described how she was forced to sleep with twenty men on her first night. Kika Certa arrived from Venezuela in the Big Apple after falling in love with a man and was under the impression she would be staying with his family. Instead, Certa found herself on Roosevelt Avenue, also known as the 'Market of Sweethearts', in the Queens borough of the city after being forced into work as a prostitute in the early s.
Certa told the New York Post she had decided to speak about her ordeal after hearing Mayor Eric Adams that migrants were being used in the sex trade in Queens. Using a pseudonym, Certa told the outlet with tears streaming down her cheeks: 'I slept with 20 men my first night.
They just came in one after another. That was the worst night of my life. Certa found herself on Roosevelt Avenue, also known as the 'Market of Sweethearts', in the Queens borough of the city. The street is seen here in recent pictures. The year-old said she had been offered a place to stay in the city after meeting and falling in love with a man named Daniel in Venezuela. Certa was introduced to his cousin Sandra, who lived in the city and was who she would be staying with.
After two weeks, Certa was sat down by the pair and told she would have to prostitute herself to pay a debt on behalf of Daniel. She recalled: '[Sandra] said Daniel was living here and he owed her a lot of money.
Certa found herself on Roosevelt Avenue, also known as the 'Market of Sweethearts', one of the brothels in the area is seen here. In order to pay the debt, she was told she would need to prostitute herself. The inside of one of the current brothels in Queens is seen here. Certa was taken to a house at 92nd and Roosevelt Avenue, given the name Lily and put to work as a sex worker.
