The NYPD returned to Canal Street on Sunday and arrested a street vendor, confiscating counterfeit items, one day after ICE crashed a similar enforcement operation 24 hours earlier.
Just the sight of cops was enough to trigger a frantic fear of ICE on Nov. 23, as vendors were spotted stuffing their faux wallets, bags, and sunglasses into white sheets before hightailing it at the sound of a siren or the sight of a suspicious vehicle.
Throughout the day, officers from the 5th Precinct ,and others who told amNewYork they were placed on the detail from other commands, patrolled the Chinatown area in an attempt to keep the sellers away. Some of the offices stood on foot posts and prevented the vendors from returning to the area; others scouted the street, pushing the open-air market further and further back.
ICE agents, however, were not seen during Sunday’s operation.
As the day wore on, vendors stood in defiance, continuing to hawk their wares despite the NYPD’s presence nearby. This caused several clashes, with some cops pushing their way and gathering the bundles of goods, stuffing them in the back of their police cruiser, leaving a mountain in the rear seat.
In another instance, one vendor took off running, leading to a horde of cops chasing him through the street until they managed to cuff him and place him under arrest.
“Why did you run?” one cop yelled.
His fellow vendors approached the flashing lights of squad cars and argued with authorities, telling them that he was just “scared.”.
According to several vendors amNewYork spoke with, who asked to remain unnamed, many of those attempting to make a living by selling the products are on edge due to ICE activity and the prevalence of far-right influencers filming them.
One vendor named social media star Nick Shirley as being particularly problematic
“He is not a good person; he should not be doing that and working with ICE,” one man said.
“That is not what journalists should do,” another said.
This all comes less than 24 hours after ICE allegedly picked up the pieces of an NYPD enforcement operation in the same area. According to ICE themselves, they conducted an operation on Nov. 22 to arrest one Abdou Tall. The agenc caled him “an illegal alien from Senegal” and said he had multiple arrests “relating to trafficking counterfeit merchandise.”
“Tall fled from law enforcement on foot for several blocks before he tripped and fell and then continued to actively resist arrest. Our officers followed their training and successfully arrested him,” the agency claimed.
The NYPD stated that its operation took place just before 11:10 a.m. on November 22, near the corner of Canal Street and Broadway. Cops had confiscated more than 25 bags of counterfeit trademark items being illegally peddled by vendors in the area.
At around noon on Saturday, police reported, federal agents came to the location. Their operation, the NYPD said, was unrelated to any department activity.
“NYPD personnel immediately left the area and did not interact with federal agents in any manner,” an NYPD spokesperson said.
While the fear remains, many sellers remain adament about continuing to vend in the neighborhood, as they have no other career alternative.
