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Market
for Fakes Too Close to Home
by Barry Owens
Several times a day on Broadway near Walker Street, the arrival of a fresh
wave of tourists is signaled to the neighborhood by the rumbling sound of
a double-decker bus and the squawk of its public address system.
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"Triangle below Canal…Robert De Niro…World Trade
Center…meet back here in one hour."
There are variations on the amplified spiel, but the tour guide's
voice always carries the same. It can be heard through every window
in the immediate area.
But stand on the sidewalk, between Lispenard and Walker Streets,
and listen closely as the passengers disembark. You will hear the
quieter chatter of a welcoming committee of peddlers: "Purse…purse…purse."
No offense Tribeca, but it is the knock-off handbags and watches
and other counterfeit goods that many of these tourists come for,
and it is clear to even the casual observer of this corner of the
neighborhood that the peddlers of Canal Street are branching out
to meet the demand.
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On Broadway alone the Trib last month observed
or learned of peddling operations of counterfeit goods in seven buildings,
some as far south of Canal Street as Leonard and Franklin Streets.
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One afternoon two ground-floor commercial spaces were raided by
authorities and emptied of their merchandise, but according to a
resident of one of the buildings, the dealers were back in business
by the same night.
In late September, operations at 381 and 405 Broadway were raided.
"It is just going to keep on escalating unless something happens,"
said Cara Terlman, who has lived on Lispenard Street since 1976
and attests to an upswing of peddler activity off Canal Street in
the past two years.
Terlman and 11 of her neighbors last month wrote a letter to Councilman
Alan Gerson's office pleading for authorities to conduct more than
"occasional show-off sweeps of the area that seem to change
nothing."
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"We need an effective and productive way to work with the police
and each other to increase the lawfulness of the area," the residents
wrote.
Residents on Lispenard are not alone. Condominium owners on the upper
floors of 356 Broadway wrote a similar letter to Gerson last month,
and sent copies to the mayor's office and Community Board 1.
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"The blocks of Broadway south of Canal Street now appear saturated
with peddlers operating illegally from a warren of tiny offices
in basements and sub-basements," the letter stated. "We
have witnessed hundreds of tourists entering and exiting our building
on weekends."
"We're going to get these people out of here," building
resident Chris Boeke said in an interview. She recently posed as
a customer and toured the basement and sub-basement of her building,
which are leased out by the owner of the ground-floor commercial
space. Beyond the filth and debris at the bottom of the stairs,
Boeke said, she found a sophisticated retail operation with booths
neatly stacked with knock-off Prada, Gucci, Chanel, Luis Vuitton,
and Kate Spade merchandise.
Richard Morris, owner of the ground-floor space, said he was not
certain of what recourse he could take to evict the tenants who
signed a one-year lease in September.
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"I have employed a lawyer who is in the process of looking into investigating
illegalities and dispossessing those people," he said. "We're
making an effort and we have to do it legally."
The condo owners are no longer buying that.
"Mr. Morris has made similar claims since early September and
because nothing has changed, we took action," said David Glovin,
president of the building's condo board.
The condo board first levied fines agains Morris, then filed suit
late last month-winning a temporary restraining order barring the
owner from allowing the illegal sale of merchandise in the building.
A court date was set for this month.
Morris told the Trib that the tenants' action bordered on harassment.
But in Glovin's view, "We've done nothing but insure that the
building's residents are safe and out of danger."
Last month the tenants hired security guards to stand outside the
door of their building to shoo away the peddlers and their customers
on the weekends, when traffic is heaviest.
The guard's presence, as observed one recent Sunday afternoon, was
enough to shut the operation down-at least for a few hours.
"They see me, and they just go next door," said a guard,
pointing to the papered-over storefront of 360 Broadway. The guard
was later seen wagging his finger at a group entering that building
and turning away a couple pushing a child in a stroller.
"I told them it was dangerous, that they shouldn't go in there,"
he said.
A Trib reporter followed a group of customers inside 360 Broadway,
a warren of rooms about 15 feet by 15 feet, each one offering knock-off
bags ranging in price from $20 to $60. The authentic versions can
retail for up to $1,500.
Both 356 and 360 Broadway were raided on the afternoon of Oct. 19
but, according to Boeke, operations resumed by nightfall and continued
throughout the month.
"And on some days, it is greater than it ever was," she
said of the traffic through the door.
Lt. Jack Konstantinidis heads the unit that investigates peddler activity
in the 1st Precinct. He said that "it's not impossible"
but it is a challenge to keep up with the constantly moving operations.
Compounding the difficulty is that the police cannot enter private
property on a hunch that peddlers are selling counterfeit bags inside.
"We have to observe it first," Konstantinidis said.
It was only by serendipity that an operation at 405 Broadway was busted
in late September. Police were inside to investigate an unrelated
complaint when they observed alleged peddlers pushing customers back
inside a room, presumably against their will, and cops investigated
what they considered to be a hostage situation. There were 15 customers
inside, and four alleged peddlers were arrested, Konstantinidis said.
That same month, a "nuisance abatement" complaint prompted
the closing of a storefront operation at 381 Broadway. Prior to its
closing, the building's landlord had hired a security guard to keep
the peddlers out, according to a source familiar with the problem.
"The more we find out about, the more we will do," Konstantinidis
said, adding that he encourages reports of illegal peddler activity
to his office at 212-334-0611. (Ask for Lt. "K.") "We
will investigate."
Calls by the Trib to the 5th Precinct's Peddlers Unit were not returned.
City Councilman Alan Gerson said he plans to issue a report this month
that will detail recommendations on street vending, including the
selling of counterfeit goods. "There needs to be sustained enforcement,
it can't just be a one-shot deal," he said. "And we may
have to look at seriously increasing the penalty."
Peddlers who are caught can be fined from $250 to $500. And if they
are arrested, they also may be detained for up to 40 hours and sentenced
to community service.
That seems to be little deterrent. One resident of Lispenard Street,
who did not want to be identified, characterized the activity on her
block as a "carnival-like" atmosphere of peddling, gambling,
money changing and open drug use that has grown increasingly "sinister'
in the past few years.
"I was never concerned about it until it got creepy," the
resident said. "It is fundamentally different these days than
it was in the past."
What amazes nearly all those interviewed is that so many tourists
are trusting enough, or perhaps just so driven by the prospect of
a bargain, that they will follow complete strangers into darkened
buildings.
A woman named Connie from Ohio said that she was only frightened the
first time. She visits the city every year and a trip to Canal Street
for a knock-off bag is always on her itinerary. Last month she purchased
one at 356 Broadway.
She had come Downtown on one of the tour buses, as had another visitor
who emerged from the building a few moments later with a bulging shopping
bag.
"Now," she said "Which way to the World Trade Center?"
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