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5 Street Vendors Arrested in One Day in Police Sweep of Sixth Ave: NYPD

By Noah Hurowitz | April 28, 2016 6:13pm
 Police arrested five unlicensed vendors and merchants selling counterfeit goods along Sixth Avenue between West 24th and West 28th streets on April 23, according to reports.
Police arrested five unlicensed vendors and merchants selling counterfeit goods along Sixth Avenue between West 24th and West 28th streets on April 23, according to reports.
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DNAinfo/Noah Hurowitz

FLATIRON — Police swept a stretch of Sixth Avenue last week, arresting a handful of unlicensed vendors or those selling counterfeit goods, according to police reports.

Over the course of several hours on April 23 officers arrested five people on Sixth Avenue between West 24th and West 28th streets for either selling merchandise on the sidewalk without a vendor’s license or slinging fake luxury brands, police said.

The arrests, which took place between 12:40 and 3:15 p.m., netted a vendor selling counterfeit Burberry cologne and four merchants selling items like T-shirts, hats and finger puppets, according to police reports.

The vendors, who ranged in age from 18 to 61, were charged with violations under the city’s administrative code and given desk appearance tickets, requiring them to appear in court at a later date, according to police.

Vendors are required to have a license from the Department of Consumer Affairs in order to sell merchandise — not including items that have been ruled protected free speech, like books — and are subject to being charged with a violation if they’re found to be selling without one.

Police often make isolated arrests of unlicensed vendors or counterfeiters along Sixth Avenue and Broadway, but a police spokesman declined to comment on whether the April 23 arrests were part of a concerted crackdown.

It was not immediately clear how many vendors have been arrested this year in the 13th Precinct for slinging counterfeit goods or selling without a license because such arrests fall under a broader administrative code and are not specifically broken down, a police representative said.