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A petition to address the counterfeit vendors on Broadway & Lispenard
A group of neighbors on Lispenard have started a petition to get City Councilmembers to take action against the hordes of street vendors at the intersection of Broadway, Canal and Lispenard, arguing that their presence has created a public health and safety hazard. (M. caught sight of it on a light pole.)
“What was once a peaceful and secure residential street has now descended into a state of persistent chaos, lawlessness, and public endangerment,” wrote Fahd Mumtaz, who started the petition at Change.org. “Our block has been overtaken by organized groups of illegal street vendors selling counterfeit and contraband goods…These vendors and illicit operators have seized control of our sidewalks and street corners, rendering pedestrian passage for residents and visitors alike hazardous and nearly impossible.”
The petition (addressed to City Councilmembers Julie Menin and Shekar Krishnan, who sit on the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection, and Tiffany Cabán, who sits on the Committee on Public Safety) notes that the block has become a public latrine and a dumping ground for discarded food and litter.
“There have been numerous incidents of public urination, defecation, open fires used for cooking on sidewalks, and illegal drug use and sale,” the petition states. “Loud music blares at all hours, and hostile behavior toward residents is common.”
“The resulting conditions have created an environment that is not only intolerable, but dangerous, unsanitary, and entirely unacceptable in any civilized city, let alone in the heart of Tribeca. The stench of human waste, combined with hazardous and unsanitary street cooking, refuse accumulation, and illegal activity, poses an escalating public health hazard and compromises our safety, dignity, and quality of life.”
I checked in with H., who has pursued this issue for years with Councilman Marte’s office. He said the vendors have been out in force lately, and enforcement has been ineffective.
“While there is attention on the issue from the 1st Precinct, they seem to only take half-measures and the vendors know it and therefore don’t fear at all the police,” H. said. “Meanwhile, most officers are going through the motions on the corner — they tell them to disperse but don’t really enforce it and walk away.”
The petition is asking for:
- Consistent and visible NYPD patrol presence on Lispenard Street
- Frequent & periodic sanitation inspections and street cleanups
- Installation of surveillance cameras
- Coordination with the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to remove illegal vendors and enforce product seizure when necessary.
- A formal investigation into the criminal networks operating in the area, with a view to disrupting and permanently removing their presence
The petition has 112 signers so far.
This seems like a great job for a BID…
38 Comments
Comment:
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Up to 174 signers now!
The only concern is that this petition focuses on Lispenard Street. If enforcement does happen just on that street, it will just push the vendors onto neighboring streets. There needs to be general citywide enforcement (and as the petition does suggest, targeting the criminal supply networks at source).
Is there a way to contact the petition organizer to modify the wording to make it a more general petition?
Shouldn’t the petition also be addressed to our City Council representative, Christopher Marte?
I have spoken numerous times with the police about the issue. They always tell me something to the effect – “Nothing will change unless the powers at the top change”.
Part of the problem is that Broadway is the boundary between the 1st and 5th Police Precincts. As a result, neither one takes responsibility to patrol on foot and clean up the situation.
Manhattan South Patrol Borough is the level of police command that could coordinate their responses. Tweet at:
NYPD Manhattan South
@NYPDPBMS
Assistant Chief James N. McCarthy, Commanding Officer. The official Twitter of NYPD Patrol Borough Manhattan South
230 E. 21st St., New York NY, 10010
(212) 477-7436
Love this, it’s definitely a start. I’ll be sharing with others! Please sign!
I would appreciate it if you comment under a different name! I’ve been Tribeca Dad for 5+ years on the Citizen. Thank you :)
Technicallys he’s TribecaDad and you’re Tribeca Dad, so i think that’s plenty distinct!
Sincercely,
Tribeca Dad?
Tribeca Dad, I think Tribeca Dad? has a valid point re TribecaDad.
Cheers.
Periodically, over the decades, there have been high-level attempts to get rid of the counterfeiters. Unless until that happens, you’re dealing only with the visible symptom and public nuisance, and the vendors will always, always, return.
In addition to lack of police enforcement, they always return because of the hordes of tourists who buy the bags and other fake designer goods. Do you think public shaming of the buyers would work? I’ve been known to yell loudly at them when they are blocking the entrance to the subway. I’ve called 311 many times but it feels useless. It really has become an epic problem lately. And/also, just saying this out loud, maybe this is an appropriate situation for ICE to deal with?
Thank you Andrea for speaking on behalf of many residents here. Yes this is a perennial problem over thirty years old. No politician since Bloomberg is willing to tackle it. Obviously the inaction comes from the top, our only hope is a new mayor who can intervene, so, vote right.
Yes, that’s the message I got from police also numerous times, something like, “If you want this to change, consider that when you vote.”
It should be illegal to knowingly buy counterfeit goods. Currently there is apparently no federal law against the purchase. So we need that. Of course, there’s still the problem of proving “knowingly”. Maybe one way to help accomplish that would be to put up clear notices on tourist information web sites, travel guides, etc. that items sold on the street may well be counterfeit (or stolen) and that purchasers risk fines if they buy these. Still, difficult to prove, as people can always pretend ignorance.
The open sales of drugs always shocks me. The dealers have a tables with jars of cannabis out in the open for sale and the traffic police walk right by and do nothing.
Traffic police aren’t actual police. They could only give parking tickets.
The City cannot afford to do much about low level, non violent, quality of life crimes like cannibalism sales, nor can any city nationally. Even if they were arrested, which is expensive, they would get a summons or, at most, a plea.
I was a criminal justice exec for several years and citizens don’t realize how huge an issue costs are.
I’m not defending it, just explaining.
Learning all this was eye opening.
As far as educating tourists, I don’t think they care. They want their LB bag to show off back home.
Isn’t this the culture of canal street to sell fake stuff lol. It’s very wrong for sure but it will just move to another block which is fine for you but not fine for someone else. It shouldn’t be done in the first place but the city doesn’t care enough bc it would have been abolished
It’s also an outdoor mosque. Time to call I.C.E.
It’s neither racist nor fascist to expect local, state, and federal laws to be enforced to ensure the safety, security, and quality of life in the neighborhoods of our great city. If you have a solution to these serious problems besides name calling, we’d all like to hear it.
You sound like someone who would make it a point to use Barack Obama’s middle name.
What a predictable ignorant response. If you read the comments above, what’s happening are more than annoyances, and people are worried and scared in their own neighborhood. Multiple laws are being broken, from selling counterfeit goods to drug sales. The perpetrators are illegal immigrants who should not even be in our country. ICE agents are dedicated law-enforcement officers who are not cosplaying – they are enforcing laws to make our communities safer. NYPD would love to be able to do their jobs but their hands are tied by City Hall and Albany,
You don’t even know the definition of fascism.
I’ve read the comments, experienced the vendors, and actually studied fascism. But thanks.
I don’t like the vendors and think they should go, if that helps. I’m also a human and try to act like one.
So, which of our candidates in upcoming election are most likely to solve this problem?
Meh ranks low on list of things I’d l want to city to focus on.
Strongly agree
Vendors should not take over our public sidewalks.
The luxury goods manufacturers used to get involved with this.
Where are they? Have they given up?
They used to get involved when counterfeit goods were sold in stores. Laws were passed to make the (identifiable and able-to-be-sued) property owners liable if they did not remove the sellers of counterfeit goods once informed. That strategy ended the sales in stores, and that is why these goods are by and large sold on sidewalks. The sidewalks are City property, not private property, so the old strategy does not apply.
I don’t think clearing the vendors from the street from time to time (it seems like they always come back) or trying to dissuade tourists from buying (they don’t care) will fix this problem.
The street vendors are getting these products from somewhere, right? There must be a supply chain in which one or more distributors is supplying the vendors with the products. So I think that this has to be addressed at a higher level than the NYPD. An investigation by the NYS AG or if the network is multi-state, then a federal investigation, would be the only way to get to the core of the operation. Anything less is likely futile.
In 2023, federal prosecutors announced a major case and the arrest of two suppliers.
DOJ:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/largest-ever-counterfeit-goods-seizures-result-trafficking-charges-against-two
If enforcement were more regular and consistent against the sellers, they would clear out. Also, if law were changed to allow fining buyers, that would make a difference. (Again, problem of proving that buyers knowingly bought counterfeit or stolen merch is the challenge).
I walk past these areas often including yesterday and it is an utter mess. Food containers thrown all over and the stench is beyond gross. I have often witnessed how incredibly aggressive some of the street vendors become and have heard them curse out tourists who end up not buying. Very alarming.
I also walk past the vendors and have experienced none of the aggression you speak of. I do see tourists coming in droves and I do also see tourists and residents litter so🤷🏼♀️. Using words such as gross and alarming suggest deeper issues with the author than street vendors.
Seems like you’re still in Kansas.
They definitely can be aggressive. Of course, I consider people obstructing sidewalks, pushing wares at me and shouting “Rolex”, “handbags” etc., when I am clearly just trying to walk through, to be aggressive. I don’t look at the wares so I am clearly not interested. I would consider that sales behavior aggressive in a store, and aggressive and completely inappropriate on a residential street. Recently one seller grabbed my arm, trying to stop me walking, and shoved some sunglasses at me. That’s just rude. (This was on Canal Street on the side of the post office, by the way, where they are also now setting up shop.) I have not been threatened by them, but I have been yelled at by them when I asked them quite politely to stop urinating on the buildings and parked cars.
I’ve lived on Lispenard for many years. The petition accurately and elegantly describes the situation. I would add that it’s actually worse. The stink of human waste is so strong I don’t like to come home anymore. Last weekend I had a friend from San Francisco visit who told me Lispenard St. was worse than anything he’s seen in SF.
Three times I have walked out the door of my building and encountered someone urinating or defecating in flagrante delicto. Each time I asked them how they would like it if I did the same thing in front of their house. I got the same “there’s no place else to go” response each time.
The situation started to get bad when de Blasio was elected because of his decision to end “broken windows policing” in the interest of “restorative justice.” It got worse when Alvin Bragg became DA due to his choice to cease prosecution of many crimes with “disparate impact” on certain groups.
I have spoken to cops many times who all say that there is no point in arresting people who are just going to be immediately released with no consequences because of policy choices made by our elected officials.
A realtor told me that people are leaving Lispenard while others refuse to buy there because of the smell, filth and chaos.
I filed an ICE report. The form requested the names and addresses of the undocumented as if I could just line these guys up and get that information. ICE didn’t do anything. 311? Joke.
Nothing here will change until the voters elect politicians who care more about ending crime and chaos than racial “equity.”
Christopher Marte (City Council District 1) has posted a response to the petition:
https://www.change.org/p/public-safety-health-crisis-on-lispenard-street/responses/45262
It is quite awful and discouraging that this problem persists for decades with no resolution. Apparently prior petitions have had little or no effect, such as this one:
https://www.change.org/p/clean-up-canal-from-crime-illegal-drugs-sales-aggressive-panhandling
Problem seems worse than ever. I’ll be voting for whichever candidates most likely to actually reduce crime in the city, including finally dealing with these illicit vendors.