A Canal Street vendor violently knocked my phone away as I exposed the illegal activities flooding Chinatown

My assignment was simple: film a video about the street vendors who’ve, once again, descended on Canal Street like locusts to hawk duped designer duds. 

I was not expecting a violent altercation over cheap sunglasses with phony logos but that’s what I got.

The sidewalk was carpeted with fake items from every high-end designer I could think of all being sold at a deep discount by aggressive sellers running amok at the new frontier of counterfeit luxury.

The vendors immediately noticed me filming and were visibly angry, demanding I stop. Some of them tried to hide their faces and others called me names. One especially furious vendor informed me that I couldn’t record him without his consent. 

I could and I said as much. 

The words were barely out of my mouth when his hand shot out and slapped the phone out of my hand. 

“Get the f–k out of here!” he screamed in my face, lunging towards me from the side of the table. 

Panicked, I looked around for help or, at least, someone to share in my shock. Instead I was met with a dozen seething street vendors and a blonde lady too busy asking about a “small Hermes bag” to notice me.  

I called 911 but the police couldn’t help much at all. Due to a technicality, the smackdown didn’t rise to the level of assault so the man was only given a toothless citation for harassment. Meanwhile the other vendors weres shouting “fucking p—y” at me as they walked by.

The ordeal left me shaken. 

It also answered a question I didn’t know needed asking: “Who’s in charge of Canal Street?” 

The answer, it seems, are the guys shoving Shmendi and Fucci bags in our faces at bargain basement prices.