By Matt Harvey – NewYork Press
The city wants to put a stop to the fakes for sale in Chinatown. But at the same time, it’s putting the squeeze on legit longtime merchants. MATT HARVEY investigates as the ‘Counterfeit Triangle’ slowly disappears.
What’s left of Canal Street’s hawkers and small merchants—Hispanic stereo salesmen, Chinese dry-goods merchants, Lebanese gold sellers and Jewish landlords—all agree on one thing: “The fix is in.” Everyone knows the clock is ticking.
Two new hotels, including a 361-room Sheraton, are due to open on Canal in the next six months. Very soon, locals say, Canal Street will join Times Square, Astor Place, the Lower East Side, the Garment District and all the other former centers of down-and-dirty capitalist grit that have been safely gentrified. As Greg “Heavy” Duval, an African-American watch-peddler explains before the Christmas holiday, “Canal is on its last legs. They want to make this a franchise block.” [Read More]