Fast Takes: Why NY wont clean up Canal St., Gazans finally learn their lessons and more

“The counterfeit market on Canal Street operates in plain sight,” laments City Journal’s Daniel Edward Rosen, because of “inconsistent policing and lax prosecution” — as well as an “unreasonably high legal bar for proving felony charges.” To stand up “felony charges” for counterfeiting, prosecutors “must establish that the retail value of the genuine versions of the fake goods exceeds statutory thresholds” of $100,000, which explains why “felony arrests on Canal Street so rarely become felony prosecutions.” But the “NYPD has also struggled to maintain a sustained presence on Canal Street.” Then, “in March, the city repealed” its own criminal penalties against unlicensed vendors; the “city’s posture on vending generally is moving toward less enforcement, not more.”“Palestinians Want a Two-State Solution” in Foreign Affairs is “a rare optimistic essay” on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, observes Commentary’s Seth Mandel.Its authors “review Palestinian opinion surveys over time and show a clear trend toward a willingness to negotiate,” with Gazans now even more willing to talk than West Bank Palestinians.

The authors seem to think such “pragmatism fell from the sky,” when the reasons are obvious: Gaza-based “Palestinians started and then lost a war, and now they are open to a negotiated end to hostilities.” They’re “finally seeing procrastination as a net-negative.” In the past, Israel always “sweetened” offers; now, it “finally took no for an answer.” Palestinians at long last realize “they have something to lose by refusing to end the conflict.”Ben Weingarten at The Federalist argues that “the anti-Trump lawfare of the last decade,” which “sought to silence, bankrupt, and jail its political opponents,” has escalated the threat to “new heights.” Jack Smith’s “team carried out a fishing expedition on behalf of the Biden administration and Democrat Party.” And because ...