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.

4 Canal Street in lower Manhattan, which has long been a site of illegal vendors selling counterfeit goods, is pictured on Thursday, October 1, 2026, in New York. Caitlyn Becker / NY Post

4 A Canal Street vendor attacks New York Post reporter Caitlyn Becker, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. Caitlyn Becker / NY Post

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.

4 Canal Street in lower Manhattan has long been a site of illegal vendors selling counterfeit goods. Caitlyn Becker / NY Post

4 The sidewalk was carpeted and tabled with fake items like sunglasses and other fashion accessories from every high-end designer imaginable. Caitlyn Becker / NY Post

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.

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