By Colin Campbell and Hunter Walker 6/20/12 3:38pm

Fashion Victims

i heart ny

Disabled Vietnam Vets Arrested And Detained By NYPD For Selling Fake ‘I ♥ NY’ T-Shirts

Yesterday, three disabled Vietnam veterans were arrested for allegedly selling counterfeit “I ♥ NY” T-shirts. According to the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center, the vets were also detained for five hours before being charged with trademark counterfeiting in the third degree.

“I love New York, and I show my love for New York every day by selling these t-shirts,” Larry Wagner, 67 and wheelchair-bound, said in a statement. “I’ve been selling these same shirts for more than two years – I had no idea they were counterfeit.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 1/30/12 11:48am

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(Photo: Getty)

Council’s Minority Caucus Pushes to Reduce Fines on Street Vendors

The City Council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus is renewing a push to reform the way that street vendors are fined. In a letter to Consumer Affairs Committee Chair Dan Garodnick, the co-chairs of the caucus, Robert Jackson and Fernando Cabrera, advocate legislation to significantly reduce the financial burden of these fines.

“Under current regulations, distance-from-the-curb violations and license-display violations command the payment of fines ranging from $50 to $1000, based upon the number of subsequent violations,” the letter explained. “The Caucus believes that this fine structure is unfair to the vendors because it compoundsviolations that may not be related.” Read More