Decongesting Canal Street?

Frazier’s accounts of living on Canal Street reminded me of my own time living and working in the area. Frazier focuses on the visual stimuli of the area in his essay, “Canal Street,” but what I find so striking about the Canal Street area is the people on the street. Though the 6 train was a mere two blocks away, I would regularly brave the hordes of counterfeit-hungry tourists to walk up the significantly less-trafficked West Broadway to get to class. The contrast between the denizens of SoHo and the Canal Street visitors is obvious: the average body mass index skyrockets once one reaches Canal Street. My entire sense of Canal Street resonates with Frazier’s, but his account focuses on the congestion in the street, not on the sidewalk. Between the backed-up vehicles and the slow-paced pedestrians, the entire artery lurches forward at what can be an exasperatingly slow pace.

Frazier’s description of the history of Canal Street particularly interested me because on my frequent walks to and from work and class I would consider the fact that this congested street with thousands of cars, trucks, and people, was once a waterway. In many ways, the street still serves that function, as a manmade thru-way across Manhattan with storefronts that function more like freight storage than retail shops.

But then, last summer, the police raids picked up momentum. Suddenly, scores of counterfeiters were shut down and their storefronts shuttered. I was working in West TriBeCa at the time, and had since moved out to Park Slope. Following the crackdowns, however, I immediately noticed a change in the character of Canal Street. While the trucks and cars still roared along at their usual pace, the stream of tourists and other pedestrians all but vanished. Almost entire blocks were vacated, with only a few stragglers left behind. And despite the traffic, the entire character of the street was quieter. In a testament to the informal and ruthlessly defiant character of both counterfeiters and Canal Street, by that afternoon, the salesmen had returned, unleashing garbage bags and luggage bags stuffed to the brim with all the fake Louis Vuitton bags a Midwestern housewife or Jersey tween could desire.

I took these series of pictures consecutively on a walk East on Canal Street from 6th Avenue. The shuttered storefronts first caught my eye, then the swarm of counterfeiters emerged on the corner of Broadway, and as I continued on with my day, a fleet of NYPD vehicles flew East on Canal – right by the counterfeiters they had detained in what ended up being a largely symbolic gesture.
Shuttered Stores on Canal Fake goods for the masses
The Fuzz

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