At far left and far right, Superman and Batman spotted earlier this week by Idle Type on Flickr; at center, yesterday's altercation via the Post
At long last, Gotham's police force has taken action to save the city from two reckless vigilante "superheroes" who have been terrorizing citizens with their lawless brand of street justice. Yesterday a group of doughty NYPD officers—fed up with the costly destruction unleashed upon our fair city by those masked outlaws "Batman" and "Superman"—spotted the two renegade freaks in Times Square and attempted to bring them to justice. According to The New York Post, officers tried booking the super-zeros on a charge of "performing in costume in public" without a license—but the only thing these two clowns were performing was civil disobedience.
And naturally these two goons, who presume themselves to be above the law, weren't about to go down without a fight. When the men in tights refused to produce proper identification, officers quickly cuffed Batman, while Superman flew off, screaming, "I'm not getting arrested!" Witness Ryan McCormick tells the Post, "The Man of Steel didn't go down with just two officers, it took seven officers! He was putting up a good fight. Little kids were like, 'Mommy, it's Superman!' " The Batman quickly confessed that Superman, his cowardly cohort, "freaked out and punched the girl cop in the face."
Police have revealed Superman's identity as one Maksim Katsnelson, 23, of The Bronx; he was charged with assault and resisting arrested. And the so-called "Dark Knight" has been exposed as Maine resident Frank Frisoli (not billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, as some have speculated). Frisoli insists his double life as a masked avenger was harmless, and that he and Katsnelson were "were just having a good time."
For some reason, officers inexplicably let Frisoli walk away after the incident, and we suspect that, once again, a phone call from his buddy the Police Commissioner played no small part in his release. And The Post reports that the Batman was last seen darting away with yet another new menace to society: a costumed crusader who calls herself "The Statue of Liberty." Taxpayers will no doubt have to foot the bill for her reckless torch-brandishing soon enough!





Wow, that article was filled with so much bile and poison it left me reaching for the antacid.
Time to evaluate your career, Mr. Signore, that wasn't the least bit professional.
Sarcasm meter fail.
Wow, you're dense.
wow dude seriously? were you born w/o a funny bone?
He probably was, but then again, so was JDS...
Good job, NYPD. Glad to see you're putting all that 3 in the morning subway ticketing spree money grab to good use.
So it's illegal for people to "perform" in costume in public without a license? Why hasn't anyone arrested the Naked Cowboy?
He's got one. So does Elmo on 45th and 7th.
excellent reply,
I'd wish the naked cowboy would go back to where he came from because the only people who's enamored by him are tourists and tourists from Nebraska.
once people start falling into line by seeing these stories everyday, look out jaywalkers!
Yeah, where's JayClay to clear this up?
Um, he's naked. Are the tighy whiteys considered his costume?
"performing in costume in public without a license" is a crime?
I always thought that was a requirement for being a New Yorker!
Glad to hear NYPD doesn't have bigger fish to fry than taking guys down for performing in costumes without license then letting them walk away.
Wait, wha...? Performing in costumes without a license? Where does one even apply for something like that? And what constitutes a costume?
Better yet, what constitutes "performing?" Were they getting paid or just walking around like preening dorks?
Is the NYPD going to arrest my kid on Halloween?
also, nice to see some fat hoagie laden cop with his knee on some kid's head for the horrible crime he perpetrated on the good people of times square.
good thing superman wasnt carrying a dog that puked in its bag!
Buffoons in uniforms -- and the two superhero guys look prettty stupid too.
a license to dress up in a costume?! Yeah, this is a free country alright. sad.sad.sad.
"Superman" didn't even have the forethought to set his Facebook profile to "private". He has some awesomely douchetastic photos in there.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/maksim.katsnelson?hiq=maksim%2Ckatsnelson&__a=1
I came across these two play fighting in Bryant Park several weeks ago. I told them they need to unit and join forces to help bring justice to our city streets. They said they were just practicing their fighting skills etc. I thanked them for their service to Gotham (Superman was frustrated - he thought he was in Metropolis). I hardly think this was a police matter.
They were possibly being incredibly annoying to people passing by. And punching an Officer in the face doesn't really help either.
Honestly there are many things you can decline to tell the cops, but the one thing you cannot do is withhold your identity. They have every right to bust you down to size just for that.
While I'm not doubting what you said, that's just wrong. If someone is doing nothing outside of the law, they really shouldn't have to tell police officers (or anyone else) who they are.
These guys get arrested yet the Naked Cowby (with a minimal costume and I guess a permit) continues to wander around Times Square and collect cash from tourists looking for pictures with him.
those are two completely different things. and naked cowbow does probably have a permit, which makes since since makes a living doing that daily.
I think most importantly: "When the men in tights refused to produce proper identification, officers quickly cuffed Batman"
Since when is refusing to produce identification a detainable offense?
If you break the law it is. Even if you're jaywalking they'll take you in if you can't prove your identity.
But... but... if they told the cops who they really were, they wouldn't have secret identities anymore.
I guess the DMV wouldn't issue a license in the name of Bruce Wayne or Clark Kent.
I know this question has been posed, but what constitutes a "costume" and "performing"? Most of the Williamsburg hipsters wear skinny jeans, Chuck Taylors, rumpled shirts and Buddy Holly glasses, a uniform I find more irritating than Superman.
So, if I decided I wanted to start wearing a Superman costume to work (assuming my boss is okay with it), I can get arrested? I understand the "mask" part of it (I was once asked to remove a mask by a cop and did so without incident), but the rest of the costume seems like it should be fine...
You'd have to also be panhandling. I agree - the costume issue is a bit of a gray area for sure. But the "performance" part is when you are accepting money from tourists who watch you dance around in said costume. That's when you have to have a license.
So you ought to have no problem with that batman costume experiment as long as you don't accept money from strangers for protecting our fair city from crime.
Why are you bashing Williamsburg, skinny jeans and hipsters? What does either have to do with this? And, really it irritates you that much? Get a life because trust me no one cares what lame clothes you wear.
This is what happens when you're unemployed.
...and a schvug, and a hipster wannabe, and a Today Show novelty segment hustler, and a...
Here we go...don't let reality get in the way of your hatred of the NYPD.
These guys weren't just walking around in costume...there were acting like dicks, acting out a fight in the middle of the street and annoying people trying to walk by. The police righfully asked them if the had a permit for their street show, like many of the people who do that shit in TS have(naked cowboy, etc) and when the couldn't prduce ID or a permit they were detained. Superman became belligerent and decided to punch a female cop and got arrested. Batman didnt act like an idiot and was let go with no problem. Had superman not been an asshole the same thing would have happened.
So, they were acting out a fight for money? I'm still confused as to what they needed a permit for. Getting arrested for punching a cop is a no-brainer.
But, if I stood in the middle of Times square and started reading Thoreau out load to nobody in particular, is that a street show? I'm not trying to be a devil's advocate or pain here, I'm just confused by this nebulous "street show" business.
I actually read (gasp!) the Post article, and according to the Post (which is a stretch), they were indeed panhandling and acting out a fight for money, and they didn't have permits or IDs.
So, I understand the detainment, and given that Superman started assaulting cops, I understand the arrest. Weird situation, though.
its pretty clear that the kid did not "punch" the cop in the face, but the cop got hit in the face while taking him down.
How is that "clear"? All I see are photos and a Post story... Nothing clear here.
What about "Sad Panda"? The cops shouldn't rest until every dirty furrie and comic book hero has been dragged before the scales of justice.
While I don't condone punching a cop, I don't think the NYPD should have approached these guys in the first place. Being annoying to passersby is not, and should not be, a crime. And the ordinance against "performing in public" (or "performing in costume in public") seems ridiculously vague and nothing more than a revenue-generating measure by requiring people to acquire licenses.
This will look good on his acting resume. Wonder which restaurant he waits at.
Excuse me while I run down to grab a license for my pet hallibut, Eric.
can someone tell me what is going on with the person standing on the left in the superman picture? is that a bald guy in a tent dress?
Yikes! Good eye.
He/she/it should be arrested for creating a visual disturbance.
I was wondering the same thing! But then I thought that maybe it's a large woman going through chemo. No, it's definitely a man. If he's not in costume I don't know who is.
Jon Heder?
They forgot about the spiderman guy that throws is rope around that area too.
This makes me think of LA - outside Grauman's Chinese theater there are all kinds of panhandlers dressed up as movie characters so tourists can have their photos taken with Batman, Darth Vader, etc in front of the iconic theater.
Many don't have permits, and the cops usually leave them alone, except for that one day Chewbacca was groping random women. They chased him down on foot before taking him into the station. He got a requisite 'resisting arrest' beating from the LAPD.
im pretty sure they have their own laws in LA
this can be classified in the same category as the clipboard people who stand in the middle of the sidewalk asking you to save something -- the children, the environment, the clock tower. it is merely a difference between "legitimate" charities and impoverished and/or unemployed people, which in essence is also a charity.
permits or not, they could all be considered annoying by the general public or the police. the clipboard people annoy me, but i accept that they will always be there. and frankly i would love to see batman fighting superman in the streets. i might even donate a bag of pennies and nickels to their cause.
being "annoying" is not illegal. but two people fighting in costumes could, in the eyes of the law, potentially lead to something bigger. therein, massive public fighting or even a riot. (a riot once broke out at penn state. the catalyst was two guys kicking an empty can of soda on the ground.)
it doesn't help that batman wears a mask. people who rob banks wear masks. producing valid identification doesn't matter if someone is wearing a mask while they run or glide away. it is also clear that superman could have gotten away if new york city still had phone booths. more time to change back into clark kent then say something like, "wa-ho, what's going on here?"
Superman is a coward and Batman is a rat, i am so disappointed
Superman has a youtube account!
http://www.youtube.com/user/maxim1986
There's even a video of him chilling with the NYPD; I guess they were okay with it then as long as they weren't panhandling?