If you travel into the center of Manhattan, you inevitably arrive at Penn Station (otherwise known as Grand Central Station) if traveling by train. Once out of the doors, you are thrust into the city atmosphere, which is intoxicating with noise, taxis and advertising everywhere. One thing that consistently comes up are tables of counterfeit fashion accessories like sunglasses, handbags and other wares that are obviously not what they seem.
No matter how good those fake Coach or Gucci wholesale handbags look, they are still counterfeit and illegally made. Still, a new article in DNA Info points out that tourists in New York areas like Chinatown will continue to buy counterfeit handbags, even in the face of a law that may make such a purchase illegal:
“Several tourists shopping for the knockoff purses along Canal Street Tuesday afternoon said that even a proposed $1,000 fine and the possibility of a year in jail would not deter them from continuing to buy the bargain bags. City Councilwoman Margaret Chin, who announced Tuesday that she will introduce legislation that for the first time would make it illegal to buy counterfeit goods, said knockoff bags are far from a victimless crime.
The fake goods are connected to organized crime, harm legitimate retailers and create a quality-of-life nightmare for downtown residents, she said. The trade also costs the city about $1 billion in lost taxes each year, Chin said.”
However, tourists and local shoppers may be in luck. The story states that the law has drawn criticism from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is steadfast against counterfeit trade, but doesn’t see the law as being a viable solution to stopping the destructive black market sales.
My suggestion is to look for actual storefronts and not tables or vans in alleys when shopping for a real designer handbag. You’re not going to find real western style handbags that you seek lurking in New York’s back alley ‘shops.’
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