BPs To Hold Meeting About FiDi Ticket Scams Next Week: Report

LOWER MANHATTAN, NY — Two borough presidents are partnering to hold a meeting Monday to discuss ticket hawkers who scam tourists into paying for the Staten Island Ferry, Staten Island Live reported.

SILive reported Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Staten Island Borough President James Oddo will hold a meeting Monday at 2 p.m. — location to be determined — in the wake of Manhattan Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou being harassed by ticket hawkers as cops stood by.

The beeps' letter invited a couple dozen politicians and stakeholders — and urged the leaders of the NYPD, Departments of Consumer Affairs, Health, Parks, among others to attend, according SILive.

The issue has long plagued Lower Manhattan, where ticket sellers try to scam tourists into buying tickets to Liberty Island or Ellis Island, or Staten Island, the latter which is free.

Following Niou being harassed by ticket vendors, NYPD's First Precinct said on Twitter that officers met with Niou late last week and they are educating tourists about the issue.

In 2017, two people were hurt in a shooting after a dispute over the hawkers' "turf," Patch previously reported. At the time, Councilmember Margaret Chin called it the "last straw in an unacceptable situation for residents and visitors in the Battery area."

The Downtown Alliance Business Improvement District has opted to scrap bus stops on its free route in the summertime to prevent scams.

"Unfortunately, the behavior of the aggressive ticket sellers near The Battery is leading us to make this seasonal service change," Alliance president Jessica Lappin said in a May statement.

Patch has reached out to BPs Brewer and Oddo for more details and will update this article as more information about the meeting becomes available.

Click here to read the full SILive report.