Peddlers of fake luxe goods are back with a vengeance along Canal Street, frustrated residents told The Post.
Crackdowns on the area’s booming trade in bogus high-end goods put a ding — but not a dent — in the illicit industry, with vendors still out in force hawking $150 “Nike” sneakers, $150 “Rolex” watches, $140 “Louis Vuitton” bags and $35 “Gucci” bucket hats, The Post found on a recent visit.
And the sidewalk sideshow is saturating not only Canal, but has expanded to surrounding spots in lower Manhattan.
“Today there are more illegal sales than ever…almost every square foot of sidewalk between Broadway and Church is covered with fake merchandise,” Frederick Kinney wrote in a petition signed by over 1,000 people urging officials to clean-up Canal. “IMPROVEMENT? THAT IS FAKE NEWS!!!”
“The crowds of people selling bogus stuff is totally oft-putting and illegal and creates human pollution and makes walking on Canal Street intimidating and uncomfortable,” concurred Richard Kurtz. “The police have been useless in dealing with this problem which has been a factor in our neighborhood for years.”
Patrick Valentino called the brazen trade “a slap in the face to other businesswoman and men who go by the rules and its become very dangerous for pedestrians. I don’t begrudge someone making a living. I do when they do it at the expense of others.”
Snarked another resident: “I’d like to be able to cross Canal Street and actually reach the curb on the other side.”
A tourist who said her name was Lily, knew from jump street that the merch was bogus.
“The gold in the logo is a bit off and inside you can see the logos are backwards,” she said of one pocketbook.
Nicole Oshay, 21, may have been from of Nashville, but she was no rube. She scored a knockoff Louis Vuitton handbag for $70 after a brief negotiation.
Policing the vendors has turned into a game of whack-a-mole.
In August, a massive NYPD sting netted as much as $2 million in knockoff designer goods on Canal Street near Broadway. But the phony peddlers popped back up in the same area within months.
In November, cops seized more than $10 million in “high-end” counterfeit goods in a sweep of knock-off purses, sneakers and other illicit goods on Canal Street. The raid led to 17 arrests, with the rogue vendors facing a top charge of trademark counterfeiting property over $1,000, a felony in the state, Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said.
This week, two officers breezed by the illegal transactions and one even fist-bumped a vendor. “We’re here for presence,” one cop said.
“We don’t bother nobody. We’re not selling drugs. Nothing like that,” insisted one vendor, called Pop.
“Do you know how many people have come to the country the past year or two years when they opened the border?,” fumed the vendor, who hails from West Africa. “That means less jobs. I’m going to tell you the honest thing. The reason why we’re doing this is because it’s the best job.”
The vendor would not say where he buys his merchandise.
Said Pop: “They want to buy, they buy. We don’t force nobody to buy.”
“Personnel from the Fifth Precinct regularly conduct enforcement of trademark counterfeiting along the Canal Street corridor,” The NYPD said, adding, “The commanding officer will continue to monitor the condition and conduct enforcement.”
