Is buying a knockoff bag as bad as prostitution?

People buying a knockoff purse in Manhattan might soon think twice.

Councilwoman Margaret Chin will announce proposed legislation today that would make it a crime to buy counterfeit goods.

Selling counterfeit goods like sunglasses and purses is already illegal, but no law exists that bars buying them.

Chin spokeswoman Kelly Magee told Metro that local residents complained after their streets were clogged with vans, goods and shoppers.

The maximum punishment for buying counterfeit items would be a $1,000 fine or up to one year in jail, in the same league as class A misdemeanors like:

»Stalking in the third degree

»Assault in the third degree

»Prostitution

»Riot in the second degree 

»Cemetery desecration in the third degree

»Conspiracy in the sixth degree

»Fortune telling

»Placing a false bomb in the second degree