Quality of life is aggressively approaching new lows. Those nostalgic for the "gritty" NYC of days of olde should rejoice. — Marcus on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

DeBlasio's two terms have been an aggressive crackdown on the quality of life here. — James on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

As per the city: New Yorkers can call 311 or visit nyc.gov/dcwp to file a complaint about street vending. https://www1.nyc.gov/site/dca/index.page — Tribeca Citizen on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

What's your point? — Tribeca Citizen on In the News: Gyms opening new locations

Thanks for sharing! this is a great addition to our neighborhood , ignore the haters, they clearly dont have anything else to do but complain... covid time has taught some nothing! — Rich on The Tin Building food market is on its way

As per The Street Vendor Project "...New York’s aggressive ‘quality of life’ crackdown...” Really?! When did that happen? I must've missed it. — Michael on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

The titles suggest chaos and red tape of the worst kind. — R. on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

WNYC good idea. Wonder why it hasn’t happened yet? Or did it? — R. on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

Good news/bad news. Too bad there is no other way to have the island exist without a 225 foot tall building. “Oh wow look at the sheep…. and that, giant building, cool”. Can’t they just rename it after some billionaire and keep it as is? Just seems it loses a bit of charm having a tall building dominate the view. Still great to have, just not as great. — Nyc on Governors Island will stay open all year

Looks to me like the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the brand new Office of Street Vendor Enforcement need a few hundred protesters knocking on their doors. — Karen on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

Unfortunately this isn’t new. I complained in the 2000’s to no avail. It had been covered by TC a decade ago. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia had the same problem too but he at least created covered markets like the now defunct Essex Street Market, among many others. These worked for a long time. Maybe call Mayor Blah Blah Blah on WNYC on Friday on Brian Lehrer’s Call the Mayor segment. 212 433 9692 (around 10am-12noon). Guaranteed the Mayor will say “call my office” or the usual runaround but it will be on the air which might help. Can you image if the tourists really came back to the city? Will they ever? — Doxie on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

By the number of comments it is clear this is an issue many residents have frustration with. Who is the appropriate representative we can speak to about this? — Randy on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

I remember in the 1970's and 1980's when I worked midtown and there would be street vendors from the Caribbean and African countries (I heard their voices) selling "designer" bags or fake Rolexes and there was always one of them being a lookout for the police because all of a sudden you would see them pack up their blankets full of merchandise and they'd run like crazy! I worked downtown by City Hall for many years (until 2020) and when I went down there recently, there were many street vendors selling illegal items. — Sherri Rosen on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

Hey, the article you link to was published JULY 17, 2021. Really, TC, not so timely, is it? LOL — mgp on In the News: Gyms opening new locations

What's the right way to log complaints about this? What category under 311 does it fall under? Or is there someone else to contact about it? Community Board? City Council? — Marcus on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

There might be different rules for courthouses? — Tribeca Citizen on Two ways to get inside 31 Chambers – virtually

This problem creates an unfair situation that will ultimately cause resentment. I have to walk in the street to get by and even then the drug use is obvious. Also, it does not feel safe. Why do we pay exorbitant taxes and we cannot even use the sideways? It is outrageous. Is there a neighbourhood rep who can spearhead some action about this? Who do we write to? Who is our local rep? — London Lady on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

Indeed there is a lot to unpack here. Selling counterfeit goods, unlicensed vendors, sidewalk congestion during height of Covid, unbridled occupation of public space, no sign of city government intervention...and we are only talking about the Africans here. Chinese vendors after years ( decades?) of shape shifting are becoming all the more mobile and have spreaded deep into Chinatown and Little Italy as well as Soho. Supply chain of counterfeit goods is global and immense, illegal immigration is on going, incompetence of the city government is omnipresent. Right now downtown NYC is in a dangerously mismanaged state, politicians will continue to kick the can down the road and store fronts will remain empty for years to come. What are we supposed to do? — R. on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

Canal street looks like skidrow! Those street sellers have ruin the small stores around Canal, even if they sold counterfeit items their store fronts was always better than the trash you see on the street now. — Sandra on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

And you sound a bit like a troll. The writer stated his opinion. You are entitled to your own. He thinks Maud is a good choice. I think Chris Marte isn't a great choice among other things because he believes all of our crime spike is due to Covid economic instability. But Rape and other Sex Crimes have zero economic basis, and according to COMPSTAT have been rising. He also believes we should not build the new borough jail project and we should also close Rikers. You can do one or the other, but it is an absolute disaster to do both. The existing borough jails are already closed. It is a delusional fantasy to think we will not have crime or criminals needing to be separated from society, they need to go someplace. I do wish Maud was more clear on her mask issue regarding children. I am inclined to disagree with her on what I think (but do not know) she believes. She is not anti-mask for adults. — Richard Parker on Maud Maron will run as an independent for City Council

I am tired of Canal being a pit of tacky counterfeit goods, but it clearly draws tourists and perhaps NYers, who actively seek out these items. I wish the city would crack down on them and get rid of them. Perhaps if they could bust the buyers for knowingly purchasing counterfeit items, it would end the appeal. — Broadway Mamma on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

In addition to the products taking up a lot of space on the street, I recently saw some men cooking meat on the sidewalk on some sort of makeshift pile of charcoal. While I commend the scrappiness, I do worry about open flames on the sidewalk as a hazard and not something we should worry about when walking by with young children and strollers! — E on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

Why the prohibition against photos once you’re inside? Isn’t a public space? — Ben on Two ways to get inside 31 Chambers – virtually

Addendum: Where does the trillions (yes, trillions) of dollars of counterfeit/pirated goods income go? Apparently it's funding organized crime organizations. In some cases, there's supposedly evidence that it funds terrorism as well. If so, then anyone buys these products is supporting organized crime, and potentially even terrorism. "The profits often support terrorist groups, drug cartels, people smugglers and street gangs. The FBI has found evidence that a portion of the financing of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing came from a store selling counterfeit T-shirts. The same has been found surrounding many other organized crime activities...the sales of counterfeit goods funded the Charlie Hebdo attack of 2016 in Paris, which left 12 people dead and nearly a dozen more injured. Sales of pirated CDs have been linked to funding the 2004 Madrid train bombing, and investigations firm Carratu connects money from counterfeit goods to Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, the Japanese Yakuza, the ETA, and the Russian Mob. The crackdown on counterfeit goods has not only become a matter of human rights but one of national and international security in various countries. The FBI has called product counterfeiting "the crime of the 21st century."" "Consumers may choose to actively dismiss these unclear origins of product when a trendy style is available for little money. The previous French terrorist attack in 2015 at Charlie Hebdo Newspaper has been traced back to being funded by counterfeit product. According to Tommy Hilfiger's Alastair Grey, terrorists bought the guns used with funds gained from selling illegal luxury sneakers. This is more normal than consumers may think...The cause and effect of this discounting of crime is giving sellers money to partake in terrorism, human trafficking and child labour." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterfeit_consumer_goods — Marcus on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied

People have a right to try to make a living, and it sounds like the vending license system needs reform. Regardless, vendors have to comply with other laws, including paying of taxes like every other business, and intellectual property laws. There are also ethical considerations, even if laws are unenforced. Counterfeiting/piracy is not a victimless crime. It's exploitative and destroys legitimate jobs, as well as eroding tax income, which then surely leads to higher taxes and fees on legitimate businesses and workers. There's the human rights question of the the labor conditions under which those counterfeits are produced. "...2018 counterfeiting was the largest criminal enterprise in the world. Sales of counterfeit and pirated goods totals $1.7 trillion per year, which is more than drugs and human trafficking. It is expected to grow to $2.8 trillion and cost 5.4 million jobs by 2022." "Counterfeit products are often produced in violation of basic human rights and child labor laws and human rights laws, as they are often created in illegal sweatshops. Clothing manufacturers often rely on sweatshops using children in what some consider "slave labor" conditions." It's not just the vendors; anyone who buys the items is just as guilty and part of the problem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterfeit_consumer_goods — Marcus on Illegal vendors on Broadway have multiplied