Nothing else anywhere in Manhattan compares to the experience of walking down Canal Street.

“Handbag! Handbag! 10 dollas!”

This is the quintessential New York cliché Canal Street refrain. Step foot on Canal Street and you are guaranteed to hear it.

Why? And what does the “Handbag” talk mean?

There’s a booming knock-off designer handbag business on Canal Street. They’re known for having the best looking fakes. But because of trademark laws, they can’t proudly display their wares. So people stand on street corners yelling “Handbag! handbag!” waiting to take interested buyers into a back room with piles of faux Chanel and Gucci. 

So, if you’re in the market for a fakeity-fake bag, just walk down Canal and you’ll have no trouble finding “Handbag!” yellers and sellers. Just follow the sound of their voice. Then the smell of fake leather.

One day I saw this limo parked on Canal Street. Was it parked here so the passengers could pop out and purchase imposter Prada? I never got my answer, but the contrast of this image is striking, no? The bare bones of “Canal’s Treat!” scrawled on a sign next to this limo. It’s the perfect parallel of the neighborhood of Chinatown, with its  chintzy souvenir shops and budget-friendly dumpling houses, sandwiched between trendy TriBeCa and SoHo – two of the city’s most desirable, high rent neighborhoods.

Hooray for rent control? Keeping some diversity in Manhattan alive?