Counterfeit goods street peddler detained
Officers of the NYPD and DCWP (department of consumer and worker protection) have been engaged in a crack-down of Chinatown counterfeit goods and street hawkers this past week. The lucrative counterfeit goods and designer goods market have been operating briskly in Chinatown for several years with impunity, with the number of street level hawkers tripling in the past 3 years. Street hawkers are drawn to the big payouts earned in the form of commissions if they “score” a big sale. Street hawkers and capos are well aware their trade is illegal but with the minimal fines imposed if they are caught, the fine is accepted as the cost of doing business.
Once a trade exclusive to Canal Street and surrounding side streets, the lack of enforcement has emboldened street hawkers to expand onto Mott, Bayard, Mulberry, Pell Streets making the sidewalks impossible to navigate with groups of potential buyers perusing through their folding catalog of goods.
Chinatown brick and mortar merchants have long complained about the street peddlers blocking their entrances, and others in the community do not want their community to be known just for knockoffs, then there are some who maintain the illegal trade brings trickle-down business and tourism in the area.
The situation is exacerbated with the addition of dozens of West African migrants hawking fake “Airpods” and headsets.
NYPost Expose
Black market peddlers flood NYC with sketchy Apple merch
Raid on 131 Mott Street apartment storeroom
Members of the NYPD and DCWP loaded a flatbed truck with bags of confiscated knockoffs from an apartment storeroom at 131 Mott Street. Building owners have been careful to screen potential residents since several buildings were seized under the “RICO” act in the early 2000s when landlords rented to counterfeit goods dealers unknowing the space would be used as a warehouse.
The NYPD claimed $30M in counterfeit goods was seized