By Julie Shapiro
The Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit led a raid on Sat., Dec. 15, targeting vendors on Canal St. and near the World Trade Center site.
They made 59 arrests, including 57 for trademark counterfeiting and two for unlicensed general vending. The police confiscated more than 1,000 pirated DVDs and many handbags. The sweep team included the First and Fifth Precincts, city Buildings and Health Departments and trademark experts.
“It was one of the most successful sweeps we’ve ever had,” said Nazli Parzizi, commissioner of the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit.
Still, Parzizi and Lolita Jackson, the C.A.U.’s Manhattan director, both emphasized the need for stricter vending legislation.
“We can get these vendors over and over,” Parzizi said, noting all they get is “a slap on the hand.” Because the laws don’t create a permanent record of violations, “once they pay a fine, [the violation] gets erased,” she said.
