Illegal vendors have returned in force to Canal Street, taking over a four-block stretch with displays of counterfeit designer purses, watches, and sunglasses. Dozens of sellers set up between Centre Street and Broadway, leaving pedestrians roughly five feet of sidewalk to navigate.
The vendors spread tables, rugs, and blankets across the pavement while offering fake $80 “Rolexes,” $250 Dior bags, and $20 Prada sunglasses. Sellers also competed aggressively for space along the crowded Manhattan corridor.
One local was stunned by the spectacle and its effect on the neighborhood. “I can’t believe this is Manhattan — it doesn’t look like it,” the resident said.
Tensions flared Friday when a vendor selling knockoff sunglasses confronted [1] a Post reporter who was recording the scene. “Get the f–k out of here!” the vendor shouted before smacking the reporter’s phone.
A responding police officer cited the vendor for harassment but made no arrest for illegal vending. The encounter highlighted the broader enforcement headache playing out repeatedly on Canal Street.
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Police cuffed another vendor around 4:20 p.m. Thursday, although it was not immediately clear why he was arrested instead of others nearby. “You didn’t see me selling nothing!” he shouted while attempting to get away from the officer, according to footage obtained by The Post.
The officer wrestled with the seller before restraining him between two cars. Post reporters observed at least two additional arrests on the street Thursday.
Police sources described the situation as a frustrating game of “whack-a-mole” shaped by New York’s “revolving-door” justice. Officers can clear the area, distribute summonses or issue desk appearance tickets, only to see vendors return the following day.
“The idea that you’re going to solve this problem with cops would mean you would need to flood the zone every day. And then the problem migrates; City Hall Brooklyn Bridge, Midtown, on and on,” one source said.
Another source questioned whether officials had any appetite for more aggressive criminal enforcement because nobody was dying over the illegal activity. That source described the continuing cycle as “catch and release.”
Residents and local business workers say the sprawling market has become a quality-of-life nightmare.
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Wellington Chen, executive director of the Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corporation, said some streets are so obstructed that pedestrians must wait to squeeze past.
“It’s a game of cat and mouse,” Chen told The Post. “You put pressure on one corner, and they move down to the other corner, and the next morning they’re back.”
Sajib Datta, an employee at nearby Loknath Gift Shop, said vendors sometimes block the business entrance, forcing the owner to call police. Datta also said the city loses money because buyers do not pay taxes on the purchases.
The NYPD conducted a raid as recently as July, while a police department spokesperson pointed to a June operation that recovered $151 million in bootleg goods. This year, police have made 88 arrests, issued 335 summonses, confiscated more than 10,000 bags of vendor property and seized 66 vehicles used in the operations.
Federal immigration agents also stormed Canal Street in April without a lasting effect. Chen said vendors run down the block and drop bags when officers arrive, then return after the enforcement action ends.
After winning the November election, Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a video criticizing immigration operations on Canal Street and urging New York immigrants to “stand up to ICE.” Elected officials later wrote that the illegal merchant problem worsened after the democratic socialist took office.
City and state lawmakers sent Mamdani and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch a January 14 letter seeking action from police, sanitation officials and the Department of Worker and Consumer Protection. They said vendors were blocking entrances to homes and small businesses, while residents and merchants faced harassment and alleged physical assaults.
City Hall spokesman Sam Raskin said addressing the Canal Street problems was a priority and promised a “whole-of-government approach.” The Department of Sanitation said it issued 5,870 summonses and warnings to street vendors this year, a 17% increase from the previous fiscal year attributed to increased 311 enforcement requests.