NYPD Confiscates City's Rotexes

If haven't gotten your dad that holiday Rotex yet, it might be too late. Local news is reporting that the NYPD has shut down a large swath of Chinatown today in a massive crackdown on counterfeit luxury handbags, watches, fragrances, etc.

A strip of stalls selling counterfeit goods in Chinatown were raided Tuesday morning, shutting down the notorious shops just in time for the holiday shopping season. Police say 10 buildings, housing about 30 stalls, were raided on a block of Canal Street off Broadway. A large number of counterfeit goods was reportedly seized, including knock off bags, watches and wallets purporting to be brands such as Chanel, Gucci and Tiffany. Police used bolt-cutters to burst into the shops where counterfeiting was suspected. The raids allegedly revealed secret rooms inside the buildings where dealers did their business. The crackdown was the latest strike by Mayor Bloomberg's Office of Special Enforcement on stores notorious for the wide array of knockoffs for sale on the street.

They never seem to bother the fake handbag vendors that litter the corners of the Upper East Side. I could walk 200 feet from my apartment and have my pick from hundreds of counterfeit items.