Ricardo Andre is used to fights in the ring, fair and balanced, but he says the assaults on Hudson Boxing classes in Tribeca hit like cheap shots he never saw coming.
Black businesses along Canal Street, like Andre’s gym and nearby West African vendors, have faced a troubling new threat: white provocateurs seeking to sabotage their livelihoods.
Within the same year and on the same block, two separate incidents —one involving an elderly white man in a trench coat, the other involving conservative videographer Nick Shirley—went viral after being recorded, each targeting Black men simply trying to work.
During the hotter months, Andre, like many Black entrepreneurs in the Canal Street area, took his mixed boxing classes for adults and children outdoors, attracting a steady stream of clients.
While the neighborhood thrives on diverse commerce, police interventions against Black owners and vendors, sometimes without official reports or records, threaten a hustle culture that has always thrived around Canal St. Today, many of the unlicensed vendors appear to be Blacks from western Africa displacing the Chinese and earlier ethnic groups..
Late on May 27, Andre was in his office when he learned that one of his fitness instructors and a class of about 15 people had been confronted by what he called an “outside agitator.”
“To see someone just come up and try to start trouble with my staff like that—it’s unsettling,” Andre said.
Andre watched in disbelief as a skinny, middle-aged white man in a long brown trench coat and business attire tried to provoke two significantly younger Black boxing coaches in activewear without cause.
Outmatched and outnumbered, Andre suspected the encounter was designed to draw police intervention. When the man struck one of the instructors, a quick defensive jab from the trainer set off a performative meltdown that immediately drew the neighborhood’s attention.
The elderly man’s exaggerated reaction—hurling trash, screaming, and standing at the busy corner of Church Street and Reade Street—caught the attention of Los Angeles–based tourist and skateboard enthusiast Andrey Tarasov, who uploaded the episode to TikTok on August 21.
“These guys know how to defend themselves, so we were taken aback. Once he got to the corner, he started threatening other people and throwing garbage at them. From there, I lost sight of him. I told everybody to come upstairs because it didn’t feel right. First, I didn’t want to get into a lawsuit, although it was his fault for hitting us. And I didn’t want to put my clients in harm’s way,” Andre said.
Though Andre believed the incident was contained, the man turned his attention to nearby vendors, targeting hardworking immigrants whose civic awareness and entrepreneurial approach had to adapt after relocating from West African communities. Two vendors could not ignore the physical provocation and engaged.
The African vendors chased the suited man deeper into the streets, landing blows that kept him at bay until he collapsed on the asphalt. Police were alerted when drivers swerved to avoid the tumult.
When officers from the 5th Precinct arrived, they took one vendor and one of Andre’s instructors into custody, but both were quickly released without being processed, according to multiple witnesses. Another bystander confirmed the detentions.
Yet when asked about the incident, the NYPD told StrausOur Town Downtown that “no complaint reports were filed with the information provided,” suggesting police may have intervened without generating official paperwork. Of else released them without charge.
Just months later, another confrontation on the same block reignited tensions.
On Sept. 25, conservative commentator Shirley posted a video on X, framing street vendors as an “illegal migrant gang” and alleging they had attacked him and his cameraman.
“NYC is a sanctuary city and protects illegals as they sell drugs, marijuana, counterfeits and more on the streets. When will law and order be restored in NYC?” Shirley wrote.
The post has drawn 6.1 million views and counting, fueling political debates online.
Straus News has reached out to Shirley for comment but have not received a response.
Another interview clip featuring Shirley is circulating on Instagram, separate from the viral X video. In this clip, he questions street vendors about their immigration status and earnings, including one individual who said he crossed the border illegally two years ago and claimed to make $20,000 in two months selling counterfeit goods, and another vendor from Ghana who said he earns $500 a day.
Within 16 hours of posting, the Instagram clip had already garnered more than 9,000 likes, 963 comments, and 3,363 shares.
The incidents highlight growing concerns over how Black and Latino vendors are targeted under Mayor Eric Adams’ crackdown on unlicensed businesses, framed as an effort to maintain order.
In practice, the initiative has disproportionately disrupted minority-owned operations. In 2024 alone, the NYPD issued 9,376 tickets to street vendors, a sharp rise from 4,213 in 2023 and 1,812 in 2019, according to City Limit.
Nearly 80 percent of those citations went to Black and Latino vendors, even though they make up about half of the city’s population, according to a joint statement from city council led by Speaker Adrienne Adams on Sept. 10. Fines can reach $1,000, and contesting them often means lost workdays and financial strain.
The aftermath of the brawls has left many West African vendors rattled and wary, carefully choosing whom to do business with as they sell ostensibly counterfeit high-end tech and fashion items to tourists and locals.
Since the incidents, frequent police sirens have scared off many African vendors from surrounding blocks. Many were hesitant to be interviewed, not only because of limited English skills but also to maintain secrecy.
Instead of laying out their products and hollering at people out in the open, they put them in trash bags and pull people aside one by one.
One regular customer, speaking anonymously to Straus News, said the crackdown seemed less about safety and more about clearing space for cheaper luxury goods in a rising-inflation economy.
Hudson Boxing has since moved classes into its makeshift studio that doubles as a photography and creative space. The smaller venue and the reluctance to train outdoors have reportedly hurt Andre’s business model for expansion.
Despite the challenges, Andre remains optimistic that his gym, named after his son Hudson, who also trains in the kids program, will bounce back.
“We’ve been here 18 years, and we’re not going anywhere. We’ll get smarter, wiser, stronger,” he said.