Took the kids to see "Man of Steel"....in 3D!....and was impressed with the technical effects....and that handsome dude, Henry Cavill.
But who needs make-believe crime fighters?
The Village Voice has this story on for-real crime fighters!
1. " NIGHT ANGELS
2. Ever since 32-year-old Mark Carson was shot in the face after leaving a gay bar on May 18, the citizen crime-prevention squad New York Initiative (NYI) has been patrolling the West Village. .... a sharp uptick in anti-gay hate crimes, with five reports in May alone.
3. Jack Zero stands in a patch of yellow light on the corner of Christopher Street and Seventh Avenue, wearing a Kevlar vest and cradling a skateboard modified with forearm straps for use as a riot shield.
4. ... he spots two more people in Kevlar outside the subway stationa martial arts instructor and a young woman packing a foot-long flashlighthe quickly crosses the street, prepared for the night's crime watch.
5. The martial arts instructor, who goes by the name Dark Guardian, worked three years chasing coke dealers out of Washington Square Park. The group [New York Initiative] also served as night security during Occupy Wall Street's Zuccotti Park protests.
6. The group used to dress as superheroes, but that changed when they felt the press characterized them as silly thrill-seekers. "We put on the mask to tell the story, to get people engaged," Zero says. "But we saw that the superhero thing was doing us more damage than good." NYI is now composed of security specialists and defense enthusiasts, though the superhero nicknames remain intact.
a. ....Zero finds a man wiped out outside Monster Bar, the back of his skull revealing a sticky stamp of blood. Zero applies pressure...
b. "I want to sing," the man with the bleeding head mumbles. "I'll sing with you," Zero says. Together they keen a slurred rendition of Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All."
7. Zero, who works club security in the meatpacking district, has been doing this sort of thing for roughly a decade. So has Dark Guardian. Meredith, a 23-year-old horse-trainer who carries herself like the girl most likely to foul you during an intramural soccer match, took self-defense lessons for two years before joining NYI.
a. When the Village was experiencing a string of muggings between Stonewall Inn and the PATH train two years ago, NYI watched drunk singles make their way to the station. If any large groups started following a vulnerable-looking guy, Zero and a man named Shortcut say they would crouch low on their skateboards and pop up by the target at the last second. The would-be muggers turned around.
8. ... both Dark Guardian and Zero wanted to be on the force. Dark Guardian even took the test. But after they learned of the NYPD's enforcement quotas, both decided the police department wasn't for them.
9. ...the group has experienced some danger. When Dark Guardian and a member named Spectre once confronted a pimp in Harlem River Park, they say the pimp threatened them instead.....Another member, Tango, posed as bait during the Park Slope groper scare last summer. When she left Freddy's Bar, pretending to be drunk, other members trailed her, taking down license plate numbers of the men who tried to get her into their cars.
10. The team spots a large crowd of teenagers hanging outside a Village flower shop that's experienced a spate of robberies. Zero, Dark Guardian, and Meredith walk up to examine the buckets of sunflowers. "Did you know dandelions are really good for you?" Zero asks his team.
"Skateboard cop," one teenager mutters to a friend before the crowd thins and disperses."
Night Angels: A Different Breed of Crime-Fighter Responds to Anti-Gay Violence - - News - New York - Village Voice
"....making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice ....."
But who needs make-believe crime fighters?
The Village Voice has this story on for-real crime fighters!
1. " NIGHT ANGELS
2. Ever since 32-year-old Mark Carson was shot in the face after leaving a gay bar on May 18, the citizen crime-prevention squad New York Initiative (NYI) has been patrolling the West Village. .... a sharp uptick in anti-gay hate crimes, with five reports in May alone.
3. Jack Zero stands in a patch of yellow light on the corner of Christopher Street and Seventh Avenue, wearing a Kevlar vest and cradling a skateboard modified with forearm straps for use as a riot shield.
4. ... he spots two more people in Kevlar outside the subway stationa martial arts instructor and a young woman packing a foot-long flashlighthe quickly crosses the street, prepared for the night's crime watch.
5. The martial arts instructor, who goes by the name Dark Guardian, worked three years chasing coke dealers out of Washington Square Park. The group [New York Initiative] also served as night security during Occupy Wall Street's Zuccotti Park protests.
6. The group used to dress as superheroes, but that changed when they felt the press characterized them as silly thrill-seekers. "We put on the mask to tell the story, to get people engaged," Zero says. "But we saw that the superhero thing was doing us more damage than good." NYI is now composed of security specialists and defense enthusiasts, though the superhero nicknames remain intact.
a. ....Zero finds a man wiped out outside Monster Bar, the back of his skull revealing a sticky stamp of blood. Zero applies pressure...
b. "I want to sing," the man with the bleeding head mumbles. "I'll sing with you," Zero says. Together they keen a slurred rendition of Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All."
7. Zero, who works club security in the meatpacking district, has been doing this sort of thing for roughly a decade. So has Dark Guardian. Meredith, a 23-year-old horse-trainer who carries herself like the girl most likely to foul you during an intramural soccer match, took self-defense lessons for two years before joining NYI.
a. When the Village was experiencing a string of muggings between Stonewall Inn and the PATH train two years ago, NYI watched drunk singles make their way to the station. If any large groups started following a vulnerable-looking guy, Zero and a man named Shortcut say they would crouch low on their skateboards and pop up by the target at the last second. The would-be muggers turned around.
8. ... both Dark Guardian and Zero wanted to be on the force. Dark Guardian even took the test. But after they learned of the NYPD's enforcement quotas, both decided the police department wasn't for them.
9. ...the group has experienced some danger. When Dark Guardian and a member named Spectre once confronted a pimp in Harlem River Park, they say the pimp threatened them instead.....Another member, Tango, posed as bait during the Park Slope groper scare last summer. When she left Freddy's Bar, pretending to be drunk, other members trailed her, taking down license plate numbers of the men who tried to get her into their cars.
10. The team spots a large crowd of teenagers hanging outside a Village flower shop that's experienced a spate of robberies. Zero, Dark Guardian, and Meredith walk up to examine the buckets of sunflowers. "Did you know dandelions are really good for you?" Zero asks his team.
"Skateboard cop," one teenager mutters to a friend before the crowd thins and disperses."
Night Angels: A Different Breed of Crime-Fighter Responds to Anti-Gay Violence - - News - New York - Village Voice
"....making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice ....."
