I guess it’s the holiday rush? But I got several notes from neighbors and then had to negotiate the sidewalks myself last week — I was forced out in the road for most of the top of Broadway to Canal.

The crowds of counterfeit vendors on Broadway between Walker and Canal are denser than ever. Throngs of buyers and sellers, at least five deep along the curbside. The garbage was disgusting.

So much for the threat of ICE! And so much for the law! Gothamist reported four years ago that “the NYPD and other city agencies must keep sidewalks clear of obstructions or risk violating federal law…Prosecutors wrote that the Americans with Disabilities Act has clearly established that ‘ensuring access to public transportation and public rights of way’ is a principle focus of the law.”

Here’s how this situation has evolved (or rather not evolved) over the past few years:

• A crackdown in July 2018 had almost no effect.
• A crackdown in November 2022 brought some relief.
• The sellers were out in force for the holidays in December 2024.
• A group of neighbors on Lispenard started a petition to get City Councilmembers to take action in June 2025.
• This was a big topic for neighbors in the primary race for our City Council seat.
• The SoHo Broadway Initiative held a panel discussion in October 2025 with the precincts, who admitted it was a “constant churn” with little they could do.
• ICE arrested nine vendors in October 2025 as part of a sting that included tanks and federal agents with machine guns.