NEW YORK — New York City police are addressing issues they say are affecting tourism and the people who work in Midtown.
The city is calling it “Operation Front Door.” CBS News New York’s Lisa Rozner rode along with the officers Wednesday night.
More than 2 dozen rickshaws seized in NYPD crackdown
Bicycle taxis were lined up outside Grand Central, but within minutes the NYPD had dismantled more than two dozen.
“This is one of the locations where I have personally received complaints… It is a nuisance to tourists and visitors,” said Kaz Daughtry, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations.
According to Daughtry, pedicabs too often do not qualify for a license from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and are equipped with a motor and speakers, both of which are illegal.
The commissioner says that while pedicabs are allowed to set their own prices, signs can still be misleading to consumers. For example, one pedicab had a sign that read “$8.99 per minute per ride.”
“What you don’t know and what the consumer doesn’t know is that if I and [a second passenger] “When we’re in the bike taxi, they charge us $8.99 per person. When we get to our destination, it sometimes costs us $50, $100, $110,” Daughtry said.
Daughtry said Wednesday that more than two dozen bicycle taxis were seized and three people were arrested, including one person who had an arrest warrant.
Times Square businesses raise concerns over illegal vendors
Officers then went to Broadway, near 40th Street, where an illegal vendor escaped police on foot, leaving behind counterfeit merchandise.
“I have Gucci sunglasses,” Daughtry said.
According to Daughtry, businesses in Times Square are complaining that customers are being harassed by illegal vendors.
“This is very scary for us because they come to us all the time and offer us bags,” said Eliza Petrosyan, a tourist from Armenia.
Earlier in the evening, Mayor Eric Adams addressed the NYPD, the Sanitation Department and the Department of Health, all of whom are involved in the ongoing operation, saying that tourism is a major economic driver.
