Raids Turn One Side of Canal Street into a "Ghost Town"
"When you have empty blocks, that's less foot traffic on Canal Street," said Christina Seid, co-owner of the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory on Bayard Street. "This economy has been bad for Chinatown and this isn't helping. When these shops go out, it's not just a raid on a few stores, you're closing down a whole block of business."
In court documents obtained by DNAinfo, the city issued summonses to 10 landlords on Canal Street, citing high crime, public disturbances and fire code violations.
"The block as a whole has become the location of a witches brew of public nuisances," the documents read. "The core of the problem is the illegal trafficking in counterfeit trademarked merchandise, both inside the stores in the buildings along the block, and by illegal peddlers on the public sidewalk along the block."
Edward Ip runs an IT consulting company in Lower Manhattan and thought the raids were a positive step to "clean up" Chinatown.
"The sale of counterfeits gives the community a bad reputation," he told DNAinfo. "There's this idea that 'if you bought it on Canal Street, it must be a fake.' I think that mentality and that stigma is really hard to get rid of until we get it all cleaned up."
Teresa Neasley of Denver used to be a willing knockoff shopper. "I have knowingly bought counterfeit designer handbags and attended purse parties where and more »