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Cops Cracking Down on Unlicensed Flower Peddlers

NY Post

Life is anything but rosy for illegal flower peddlers in Borough Park. Cops in the predominantly Hasidic neighborhood are cracking down on the unlicensed hawkers after legit florists complained they are costing them between $5,000 and $10,000 a week in sales.

The squeeze comes on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, when tradition calls for thousands of flowers to adorn the inside of homes and synagogues.

“We’re going to be enforcing illegal vendors and making sure the legal vendors comply with their licenses,” NYPD Deputy Inspector Michael Deddo, of the 66th Precinct, recently told a meeting of community leaders that was attended by at least 20 neighborhood florists.

“We don’t want to see our shops have to shut their doors because somebody’s not paying taxes.”

Since Friday, cops from the precinct issued 13 summonses to illegal flower vendors, and even seized products from four peddlers, said NYPD spokeswoman Inspector Kim Royster.

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9 Comments

  • Mobsters

    The so called “legit” florists sound like a bunch of mobsters trying to silence the competition so they can overcharge.

  • hope so too

    to #4
    The guy by house of glatt has a flower store in queens. i assume he has a license for it!

  • Response to #3

    Unlicensed vendors are not fair competition. They don’t have the overhead of rent, taxes etc. and can undercut the prices of legitimate businesses. Saying that legit businesses are like “mobsters trying to silence the competition” is like saying the government are like mobsters for going after counterfeiters or manufacturers and sellers of bootleg DVDs.

  • Response to number 8

    Yes number 8, the government is also made up of a bunch of mobsters. I couldn’t agree more.