But this private initiative is hampered by the city's lax attitude toward the illegal peddlers that crowd along 14th Street, leaving behind torn cardboard boxes and other refuse.

His mission: to aid bewildered tourists, to banish illegal peddlers and motor-mouthed three-card monte dealers and to alert the police when real trouble strikes.

The illegal peddlers uptown probably made it possible for a few youngsters to get out of the playground and into college and on with productive lives.

Before the shooting, he had headed his building's tenants' committee at one point and joined a block association to fight against growing drug abuse and illegal peddlers.

The meager green space of Plaza Miserere is usually taken up by illegal peddlers, people queuing for their bus, and preachers of all stripes.

Most important, as you reported, there were far fewer illegal peddlers on the streets.

So the squad began arresting illegal peddlers and confiscating their goods.

Two years ago, when Jill Greenbaum walked around her West Side neighborhood, the sidewalks were crammed with illegal peddlers during the day and prostitutes at night.

The question is, Who will we drive out of the city first, the illegal peddlers or the legitimate small-business people?

"You won't be able to find Dushuqiang and other highly lethal rat poisons in the market, although there still might be some illegal peddlers selling them secretly."