Bootleggers, in this city?! Never. According to the Daily News, Queens company NYSP Outlet won a city contract to sell t-shirts in Central Park, but now they're being accused of selling bootlegged merch. To back up: the contract means the company has exclusive rights to sell in the park, and to do so they've agreed to pay $550K to the city over the next five years.
The company's president, Muhammad Adil, is insisting the trademark suit filed is bogus, however. It alleges that he is hawking t-shirts (think Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson) that violate trademark held by Bravado International Group. Adil's lawyer claims that a counterfeiter likely purchased blank t-shirts from his client, and later added the illegal logos.
The city is now completing background checks on Adil, and the Parks Department's Phil Abramson told the paper, "We will definitely take this suit and any eventual ruling under advisement as part of the responsibility determination for the award of the contract."
