Canal street sidewalk peddlers are going high tech.
The counterfeit kings are flooding Chinatown and the Lower East Side with knockoff Apple products, including wireless AirPods Pro and AirPods Max, selling gizmos for $40 that, if real, would retail for as much as $550.
On a recent Wednesday afternoon, The Post witnessed some 30 “Apple” sellers along Canal Street — and concerned neighbors say the problem is mushrooming.
“Their numbers have grown substantially in the past month. On a weekend day there are maybe three to four dozen working Canal Street between Lafayette Street and Mott Street. . . . You can’t miss them,” fumed Chinatown activist Karlin Chan.
“Chinatown is a vibrant neighborhood that we locals would like to be known for its food and culture, not as a destination for fake goods which reinforces a negative stereotype,” Chan said.
A Post reporter, with the assistance of Chan, bought “AirPods Max and Pro” from two dealers on Mulberry Street and Canal.
The Max headset box was not sealed and was smaller than the real McCoy.
Some of the instructions had grammatical errors.
The device was plastic instead of aluminum.
The peddler started at $150 but was quickly haggled down to $40.
The second seller wanted $100 for the “AirPods Pro,” but settled for $50.
The external packaging and instructions looked legit but the internal packaging was made from plastic, which Apple does not use.
As for the buds, the cushions were not removable like Apple, and the device used an outdated lightning connector.
The street salesmen — West African migrants who speak little English — carry plastic bags stuffed with the white “Apple” boxes and when pedestrians approach, the peddlers fish the boxes out of the bags and flash the merch in the faces of the unsuspecting walkers.
“Come with me!” the sellers insist.
Most use iPhone app “translate text” to answer questions.
The hawkers dart toward vehicles stopped in traffic.
One of them said he “needs the money to eat.”
At the mere sight of a cop, the peddlers shout “Police!” and scatter until the coast is clear to return.
“It’s gotten out of hand. Coupled with the 100-plus Chinese fake luxury good dealers, the sidewalks are impossible to navigate — especially since they all like to work the corners, which creates a safety hazard,” Chan said.
He added: “It also hurts our merchants who pay high rents and taxes.”
Merchants agreed, saying it is hurting their bottom line.
“It is not good and it’s illegal. They sell in the street. They take away our customers,” griped Mohammad Khan, 25, whose brother runs Chinatown Center Gift Shop on Canal Street.
German tourists Mark Hochtrigt, 53, and his daughter, Charlotte, 23, were not seduced by the street salespitches.
“It’s not original, it’s fake,” the dad, a doctor, said. “When you get home, you try it and you test it and it will not work,” he predicted.
Messages to Apple headquarters were not returned.
“They’re fakes,” declared Dan Harris, a Seattle-based lawyer who helps companies navigate global intellectual property issues and heads up China Law Blog.
He examined photos of the Post-purchased merch.
“There’s nobody selling AirPod Pros for $50 unless they were stolen,” he said. “I doubt that these are real Apple products sold out the back door because I’ve not heard of that. And I’m pretty damn certain Apple has really good security,” he said, “Now maybe somebody walks off with one Apple product and sells it out the side door, but not in quantity.”
Harris said “believe it or not, the best way” to determine a fake is to examine the packaging and instructions and look for those inconsistencies.
He said Apple has its own “highly-trained counterfeiting team and they will make sure this is stopped. It’s not good for business.”
Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said selling fakes isn’t a victimless crime.
“If you think a company like Apple is not going to pass along an expense to consumers that actually paid for the real McCoy, you’re mistaken,” he said. “This kind of behavior steals from everyone.”
Nearly $290,000 in AirPods and Apple Watch knockoffs shipped from China to Washington Dulles International Airport were seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in March 2023.
The NYPD said it “is aware of counterfeit Apple goods being sold along Canal Street and continues to conduct enforcement to address the condition.”
