Sidewalks and streets at Ground Zero were, at least temporarily, free of illegal vendors and hawkers on Monday afternoon after city officials demanded a crackdown on the selling of September 11 memorabilia, knockoff designer handbags and watches.

"You can't hawk at Ground Zero. It's distasteful and it's illegal," said Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer. "It gives Ground Zero a carnival atmosphere. It's inappropriate, especially for the families that go there to pay their respects."

Scores of September 11 hawkers have become a mainstay at Ground Zero. They flash photographs of exploding debris and images of the twin towers crumbling in the faces of tourists and passersby at the Liberty Street New York fire department firehouse, and in front of the Tribute Centre, the official World Trade Centre museum.

Some hawkers even sell the pictures at the fence where tourists gather to view the site by a Port Authority sign saying it is "prohibited" for vendors to sell there. The sign asks tourists to "refrain" from buying items. It also suggests tourists buy their collectibles at the Tribute Centre gift shop, which "offers authorised commemorative WTC items."

Proceeds are donated to the September 11th Families Association.

Church Street was also empty of vendors and their tables where they usually sell glass figurines of the World Trade Centre, T-shirts and hats. In front of the Century 21 department store no one was selling the usual knockoff designer bags, watches and sunglasses to the throngs of tourists thus easing pedestrian traffic.

Still, a handful of illegal vendors returned later to Ground Zero, quietly selling on the corner of Vesey and Church streets -- discreetly approaching tourists with 9/11 photographs. They were back also at Liberty Street, hawking next to the firehouse and fence.

"The police move us and give us tickets," said one photo vendor who did not want to give his name. "I've been doing this for two months, and it puts food on the table for my family." He said he knows some people are offended, "but the tourists are really interested. They want to know what happened here," he said in Spanish.

The New York Port Authority and police department have been ticketing illegal vendors since 2005, said Steven Coleman, port authority spokesman.

Elizabeth Berger, president of the Alliance of Downtown New York, said illegal vending on Liberty and Church streets is "a public safety issue. It's crowded with hundreds of thousands of people. There is construction, and illegal vending frankly violates the sanctity of the site."

Police commissioner Ray Kelly said police have repeatedly arrested illegal vendors at the World Trade Centre site only to have them return after paying nominal fines. Kelly pointed out, however, that police can't keep track of multiple offenders because, by law, they can't usually fingerprint vendors since they are charged with violating the city's administrative code, not the state penal law. That means prosecutors and judges can't keep track of which are recidivists and therefore subject to steeper fines.