City, Featured - by Jana Price on Wednesday, December 3, 2008 23:12 - 18 Comments - 89 views
“Prada? Gucci? Handbag, handbag, you want handbag?” These songs from the famed Chinatown Canal street purse hawkers are no more: the shopkeepers and their underground loot had a surprise visit from the NYPD early Tuesday morning.
A whole slew of the hole in the wall establishments jam-packed with Dolce & Gabbana knock-offs in the front, and secret walls that lead you to a world of near perfect replicas in the back were barricaded off by the police while they searched the premises.
Some of the stores had either been cleaned out by the authorities by the time I walked past or the owners made impressive getaways, because they had very eerie ghost-town vibes to them and hardly any contents whatsoever inside.
Others, however, still had the employees trapped with purses behind the gates, standing around anxiously while smug officers rifled through their goods. One shop had an undercover man snapping photographs of various pieces of merchandise, presumably for evidence.
There was an eighteen wheeler parked on the street with the police, and other men packing various white boxes directly in front of this spectacle which may or may not have been products once for sale.
When I got off the train that evening, Chinatown rocked a very different vibe than the one I was accustomed to. It was odd to not be met with fanfare upon exiting the stop, being offered for the umpteenth time a great deal on an almost real to-die-for item. By this point, all of the shops had the rolling metal security doors affixed to them, all with red official notices of closure and accompanying white ones on many of them.
The red flyer informs the public of the official closing of the establishments by court order, and the Supreme Court (NY County) date set for December 7. The white flyer spouts much more serious explanations for the closures than selling fake goods: “The department of buildings has determined that conditions in this premises are imminently perilous to life.” Accordingly, the premises will remain closed until the conditions have been determined satisfactory by the department standards.
Violators as usual are subject to prosecution. What a great showing this will be for the city of New York, with the millions of tourists running through here this holiday season, half of them eager to go stock up on fake goodies from Chinatown.
18 Comments
Kayla Cohen
Hannah Caporello
“Imminently perilous to life”?
Who knew the building commissioner’s office has such a way with words?
Josh Becker
The Chinese mafia will find a way around this.
Cecilia T.
“world of near perfect replicas” ?!?!?! Are you KIDDING me?! I’m a local and I’ve been to this “world” just for fun and to look around myself and I came back laughing. Those of you who think you’ve missed the boat, don’t fret. The Coach bags are cheap and VERY knocked-off-looking. The Gucci is sad and peeling. And you can smell the PVC from the Chanel a mile away. Please do not consider getting a fake (one that is OBVIOUSLY fake, lacking in shape and discolored anyway). The fashion police will arrest you just like they did to chinatown.
NYC is my favorite place to go during the holiday season. We enjoy China Town and all the knock-offs. We are going to miss that this year. That is something we look forward to doing. I think I hear them in my dreams…Rolex, Rolex Gucci. Does that mean my Tiffany ring from China Town is fake??!! Hahaha. Fake or not, I like it. I hope this is only temporary. Happy Holidays everyone! 
Josh Becker
^___^
Pat McClellan
Getting replicas for cheap is a great way to save money on holiday shopping, but at the same time… there are a lot of sweatshops in Chinatown. It’s kind of laughable to think about when you’re seeing the guys try to sell you this stuff, but a huge number of bootleg stores in Chinatown have serious mob connections and are involved in crimes much more serious than simple bootlegging.
@ Cecilia some people can’t afford real shit welcome to the recession. plus fake shit is funny welcome to irony. plus the brands you named aren’t actually cool welcome to reality.
Lily Q
Buying fakes is the ultimate in label whoring, it just makes you look like a moron. That said, it’s not as if the fake trade is going away so it feels like a waste of money for NY to have a massive “crack down” every year only for the whole thing to start over within weeks.
@ Lily buying reals is not any less label whoring. it’s just more expensive. and less funny.
@chris: untrue. yes, you’re still buying a label, but the real label comes with a warranty and no pleather. you’re buying something that’s well made in factories full of sweaty adults, not perspiring children.
as for the whole irony of fakes thing, i guarantee that a vast majority of people buying them aren’t going for irony, they’re just desperate for the logo.
@ Cecilia: True Chinatown replicas aren’t that great. I used to think that if I couldn’t get the real thing, then too bad.
But then I lived in Beijing for a bit and my thoughts on it changed quite rapidly. For one, buying a knockoff in China is a whole different game. I was told that basically someone in a factory will organize a way to steal some patterns, an actually copy of the product, and (sometimes the fabric if its a good bootlegger) pass it off to some crooked factory owner who then employs some more cheaply paid people to make pretty much identical shit and sell it for less. So my thinking was that… if the same people… are using the same patterns…with luck the same material… to make it for 30$, there’s just no way I’m gonna buy it for anything more.
Instead of buying some thousand dollar purse, get a ticket, go to China, have an amazing and also cheap ass vacay, and leave with a whole wardrobe that probably could fool Anna Wintour.
Henry Chan
Or just forego all the designer brands and buy $10 purses at a Wal-Mart.
Or go to Wu-Mart– much better alternative to Walmart. And no risk of death by stampede during the sales.
Cecilia T.
@ Chris, I never once mentioned that the brands I listed were “cool”.
Cecilia T.
@ Claire, I heard about the same counterfeiting process over there in there in the motherland and I wonder just how near-perfect it can get…. until I go there myself, I guess I wouldn’t know….
@ Lily I would say there is no garauntee that the real shit isn’t made in sweatshops. Gucci doesn’t give a fuck about da kids. They all at least have some shady ties. That’s how you become successful. You are right though that most people want labels, not irony. I do, however, feel as though people that buy the real shit want the same thing, but that they can afford it, while the poseurs cannot. To me that is pretty much the only difference.
@ Cecilia let’s get serious you were valorizing these brands at the expense of their knock-offs. i mean you wouldn’t be mentioning “the fashion police” if you weren’t. or not i guess…
@ Josh whatup cutie.
Carol Puley
I just got back from Chinatown and the knockoff business was thriving. First time there. The experience was interesting to say the least! My daughter wanted a Coach and Chanel purse. This was an inexpensive way to get her a “designer” purse that if it falls apart as some one said in a previous comment will be just fine because her taste will have changed by then! Those of you who have teenagers can relate. I am not into flashing a designer name but I did find a cute purse and matching wallet that I bought. If this is illegal how do they get away with it so openly?
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I would say give it a week. This seems to happen a lot.