Two restaurateurs in New York City, Tom and Anthony
Martignetti announced this month that they are opening a new restaurant on
Canal Street. The interesting thing about this new, unnamed restaurant is that
it is set to be located right in the middle of Canal Street’s “Counterfeit
Triangle” district. A few years ago, this group of storefronts was a hub for
all things counterfeit, until a major raid by law enforcement officials in 2008.
The estimated value of the raid was over $1 million. According to a NY Times article,
the stores were required “to replace the counterfeit vendors with legitimate
businesses and pay a substantial fine to the city before the buildings can be
reopened.” Last year the property owners agreed to pay the city for the
right to reopen them.
(Image taken from NY Times article)
The community of downtown residents fully supports the
addition of such a positive establishment. The new restaurant is certainly
contributing to an urban renewal of Canal Street. From a street full of 32
criminally run bodegas, Canal Street is starting to perk up. With the
“Counterfeit Triangle” gone, the destroyed brick storefronts are slowly looking
more optimistic. Criminal activity has decreased making the neighborhood much
safer and allowing businesses to move in that can actually contribute to the
economy instead of take away jobs and taxes from New York City. We are excited
to see the changes Canal Street will endure over the next few years as it tries
to rebuild and become more appealing to the community.