Wendy Red Star Gets Her Bag

"On Canal, Red Star encountered throngs of jostling venders standing over bags arranged on the sidewalk. She homed in on a Takashi Murakami Louis Vuitton number (the real thing goes for more than two thousand dollars). Asking price: $130; final bid: $100."

"Police sirens blared, and the venders scooped up their wares and disappeared. Earlier this year, after ICE raided Canal Street, some Tribeca gallerists came under fire for holding a meeting about how to disperse venders outside their spaces; last week, a bill backed by Mayor Mamdani went into effect which basically decriminalized vending without a license."

"LaViola scoffed. 'I would've gotten them down to, like, twenty-five bucks. Well, maybe sixty. This is terrible. Look at this workmanship! Also, it's upside down.' Indeed, the rainbow 'LV' logos were printed the wrong way up."

Red Star visits Canal Street with her gallerist Allegra LaViola to purchase a luxury bag for her sister. The street is filled with vendors selling counterfeit designer items, including a fake Takashi Murakami Louis Vuitton bag priced at $130, which Red Star negotiates down to $100. When police sirens sound, vendors quickly pack up their merchandise using sheets and wagons. LaViola criticizes the bag's poor quality and defective construction, noting the LV logos are printed upside down. The encounter reflects recent developments on Canal Street, including ICE raids and a new city bill that decriminalized unlicensed vending, changing the landscape of street commerce.

Read at The New Yorker