Tag new york initiative

Originally posted: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/10/11/new-york-city-superheroes-react-to-arrest-of-crime-fighter-phoenix-jones/
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – New York’s burgeoning amateur “superhero” community take notice: Don’t try breaking up a fight in Seattle.
The Big Apple is home to countless comic book superheros – and a few self-styled “real” ones.
The New York Initiative is a group of folks who wear costumes and say their goals are patrolling for criminals, public security, humanitarian outreach and more.
Their mission statement, found on their Facebook page, says “We are individuals organized towards achieving peacekeeping objectives and humanitarian missions. This will translate into a variety of non-monetary services as unfolding events demand. Our primary goal will always be to help those in the most need to the highest ethical standard and to the maximum effect.”
News of the arrest of one of their costumed colleagues in Seattle – a man who guys by the name Phoenix Jones – has their Facebook page humming.
The arrest came after a confrontation that was caught on video and is embedded below.
Phoenix Jones Stops Assault from Ryan McNamee on Vimeo.
Jones, whose real name is Benjamin Fodor, allegedly used pepper spray on four people. They say they were dancing in the streets; Jones says they were fighting and tried to break it up.
His actions have prompted a response within New York’s superhero community.
“I believe he acted inappropriately in this instance,” Chris Pollak, aka Dark Guardian, told CBSNewYork.  The Dark Guardian was featured in a documentary on real life superheroes, and he was seen rousting alleged drug dealers in Washington Square Park.
“He rushed into a situation and reacted with very poor judgement. He maced a group of people who were not attacking him. He was not acting in self defense and the police have rightfully charged him with assault,” Pollak said.
He added that he hopes Phoenix Jones’ actions don’t reflect on the superhero movement.
“This is an example of what not to do as a community crime-fighter. It should be a priority to deescalate situations and work hand in hand with the police to garner the smartest and safest outcome. I stand with the police and want everyone to know he is not a true reflection on what others like myself do in our communities to help,” Pollak said.
Reaction on the Intiative’s Facebook page was also intense.
“That’s what happens when you react the way he did,” self-styled hero Short Cut wrote. “Despite popular belief, you do not fight fire with fire. You are supposed to cool things down.”
“I’m pretty sure he just screwed it up for everyone,” wrote Jack Cero, another self-styled hero. “They now have precedent if his conviction goes through, and what’s more is that his charges will be double due to his body armor and mask.”
However, fan response on Jones’ Facebook page has been pretty massive, with scores of folks leaving messages of support.

Originally posted: http://www.slamdance.com/2060786/Superheroes-to-attend-IFC-Screening-in-New-York
Los Angeles – September 26, 2011 – The IFC Center will launch Slamdance’s 2011 On The Road tour on October 7th 2011 for a weeklong engagement. The traveling theatrical showcase will feature the critically acclaimed documentary Superheroes directed by Michael Barnett as well as the award winning short film Hello Caller by Andrew Putschoegl.
This year’s On the Road launch represents a well-established relationship between Slamdance and The IFC Center. Soon after opening, the Center found success with Mad Hot Ballroom, a documentary that premiered and was acquired from Slamdance in 2005. As an advocate for independent films, The IFC Center serves as the ideal starting point for the Festival whose mantra is ‘By Filmmakers For Filmmakers.’ Slamdance’s president and Co-founder Peter Baxter explains “On The Road brings popular Slamdance films to audiences that otherwise would not have the opportunity to see them on the big screen and provides our filmmakers commercial benefits that they otherwise would not receive.”
Superheroes is a profoundly funny, eccentric and inspiring film that chronicles the extraordinary lives of real-life superheroes as they take to the streets to protect and support their communities. Perhaps the most intimidating of the heroes featured in the film are a group of Brooklyn-based vigilantes. Life, Dark Guardian and other superheroes from the New York initiative will be in attendance and participate in a Q&A which will immediately follow the screening.
Eight months after the world premiere of Superheroes at the 2011 festival, the Slamdance team continues to demonstrate a commitment to their alumni. As director Michael Barnett puts it, “The tremendous exposure our film gained from Slamdance helped us sell Superheroes to HBO. Partnering with Slamdance for a theatrical release shows how forward thinking they really are.”
Each screening will begin with Hello Caller about a suicidal woman who makes a call for help with unexpected and hilarious results. “We’re still in shock that Hello Caller is getting a theatrical release,” admits director Andrew Putschoegl. “Short films are hard enough to make, let alone find distribution.”
After the IFC Center, Slamdance’s On the Road tour will travel to Dublin, Ireland; Omaha, Nebraska; Salt Lake City, Utah; Houston, Texas; Seattle, Washington; Juneau, Alaska; Atlanta, Georgia; Los Angeles, California; Vancouver, BC; and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
About Slamdance – As a year-round organization, Slamdance serves as a showcase for the discovery of new and emerging talent and is dedicated to the nurturing and development of new independent artists and their cinematic vision. For the 2011 Festival, Slamdance received a record number of over 5,000 submissions and is well on the way to surpassing that record with the 2012 festival submissions. No other festival is fully programmed by filmmakers. Slamdance counts among its alumni many notable writers and directors who first gained notice at the festival, including Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight), Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball), Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) and Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity). New filmmakers and writers today realize Slamdance is a great place to launch their careers. In 2010, Slamdance began a Video on Demand partnership with Microsoft and has continued to expand its exhibition efforts theatrically through Slamdance On The Road. New filmmakers and writers today realize Slamdance is a great place to launch their careers. Slamdance 2012 takes place January 20th-26th in Park City and is currently calling for festival entries.

Originally posted: http://uscombatsports.com/index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=items&cid=241&id=9512&Itemid=336
By: Peter Lampasona     Date: 18 August 2011
Last week, HBO aired a documentary called Superheroes following members of the recent phenomenon of private citizens dressing in costumes to engage in everything from from charity work to vigilante justice. Among the groups featured in the documentary is a make-shift team of Avengers who operate out of the New York boroughs known as the NY Initiative.
Since the release of the documentary, the Real Life Superhero movement has become a hot topic for conversation among both the New York and martial arts communities. So much so that, when asked for a statement by US Combat Sports, a representative of the NY Initiative said that they were currently engaged in a “media blackout” because too many stories are about them and not the issues that they wish to bring to light.
In previous installments of the Problem with Self Defense editorial series, I’ve gone so far as to call everyone who trains in martial arts specifically for the purposes of the increasingly nebulous term “self defense” to be engaging in some degree of delusion. Whether that delusion is harmful or not tends to vary on the situation.
In the context of negatively evaluating delusions of seemingly average people, taking on those who dress up in full costume complete with alternate identity in order to participate in their neighborhood watch seems like dynamite fishing in the local pond.
But, perhaps to the surprise of long time readers, the actions of Real Life Superheroes are not all dangerous or pure fantasy. Those things that are bad ideas are monumentally bad for everyone involved and the natural conclusion of all the silliness attached to “self defense.” For once, though, I’d like to start with the positive.
In this two part article series I will be evaluating both the charitable and crime fighting efforts of Real Life Superheroes, as they seem to be separate and distinct pursuits. For part one, I will look at the charitable.
From what I’ve been able to glean, the majority of Real Life Superheroes spend their time in costume doing humanitarian efforts. This includes charity work, distributing supplies to the homeless, or even acting as a social link for drug addicts through simple conversation. Every example of purely humanitarian efforts, that is those not directly interacting with violent crime, both showcased in the documentary and what I’ve been able to find going on locally, are good things that help the community.
A common response to those positives Real Life Superheroes can have is to point out that none of these good deeds require a costume. But, for some people, they do.
New York City, as evidenced by the fact that 1/3 of all American films are set there, is an important place that sets the tone for the culture of the surrounding area. It’s also got so much going on that paying attention to any of the people or information outside of an individual’s immediate cone of concern can be very overwhelming. As a result, most New Yorkers in the southern part of the state are trained to focus on what’s in front of them and let the rest of the world just walk on by.
Playing long-distance psychological examiner to people you barely know is not as exact a science as most sports writers make it out to be. But, if someone needs to wear costume and become a different person in order to put in the effort to help his community as best as a private citizen can, at least someone’s putting in that effort.
The unfortunate side of Real Life Superheroes is the part that everyone thinks of first when they picture masked vigilantes. The physical act of crime fighting is where the whole practice starts to get insane. It also represents the terminal stop in the logic of the self defense crowd. More on that tomorrow in part two.

Originally posted: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/good-news/superheroes-roam-york-streets-182905295.html
By Nadine Bells
Real-life crime fighters are gaining quite the reputation on the streets of New York City.
They’ve inspired a documentary and a book. The NY Press featured them as a cover story. And now the BBC has spent a night on the streets with the masked avengers.
Like Batman before them, the New York Initiative patrols Gotham’s streets late at night, keeping an eye on “the notorious South Bronx projects, looking for troublemakers and their victims.”
Their presence, they claim, deters public drug deals in the area:
“They’ll see us and take off running,” Samaritan Prime, the alter-ego of an otherwise anonymous New Yorker, told the BBC. “They go to the dark corners that all insects retreat to.”
The masked group — likening itself to “a community block watch or safety patrol” — has patrolled the West Village for muggers, and last year vowed to protect sex workers from the Long Island Serial Killer.
Nitro, Shortcut, Zero, Samaritan Prime and Battlestar are a few of the heroes comprising The New York Initiative (NYI), a splinter group in the worldwide Real Life Superheroes (RLSHs) movement.
The NYI wields weapons — legal and creative ones, such as mouth organs and metal torches — but insists that violence is a last resort, used to protect the innocent.
“I don’t do this to punish the wicked but to protect their victims,” Deaths Head Moth says. “But some people just don’t take kindly to being politely asked to stop what they’re doing.”
Authorities aren’t on-board with civilians taking crime-fighting into their own hands. But Zero criticizes the police’s lack of support, pointing out that cops “don’t show up” when they’re needed most.
Zero has been outspoken on his dislike of the word “superhero,” preferring instead the term “X-ALT,” referring to the personality type known as “extreme altruism.”
A study on the psychopathy of heroism says that “X-altruists are compelled to good, even when doing so makes no sense and brings harm upon them.”
Samaritan Prime also shrugs off any perceived self-importance:
“I’m just a guy in a suit,” he says. “But I’m trying to do what we should all do, which is make life better for everyone.”

Originally posted: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/13359936
By
A group of crime fighters in New York who dress as superheroes say they patrol the streets of the city “to make life better for everyone”.

“If you turn yourself into a nameless symbol, you can stand for so much more than just one person out there.”
It sounds like something Batman might say.
The man speaking looks a bit like Batman too, in combat gear and a black leather face mask.
“I’m just a guy in a suit,” he says. “But I’m trying to do what we should all do, which is make life better for everyone.”
He calls himself Samaritan Prime – they keep their real names and identities secret.

He is part of a group called The New York Initiative and one of hundreds of people around the world who call themselves “real life superheroes”.
Crime fighting Hollywood film Kick-Ass is based on them.
‘Real life’
The growing movement started in the United States but it now includes people in places like Birmingham and Norwich in the UK.
Tonight, NYI members are patrolling the notorious South Bronx projects, looking for troublemakers and their victims.
Zero and Short Cut are on skateboards, Samaritan rides a bike.
Battlestar, Nitro and Deaths Head Moth are all on foot.
“We find drunks fighting out, domestic abuse, a robbery, anything like that,” says Deaths Head Moth.
“I stopped a rape once. A couple of guys were taking a drunk girl home with them.
“They were talking about all the stuff they were going to do to her. I came up and I told them to get away from her.”
As we walk, Samaritan plays a mouth organ.
‘Unconventional weapons’
“It’s more of a weapon than an instrument,” he explains and shows how the sharp metal corners can be jabbed into someone’s face.

Pointing at Nitro, he says: “My friend here was at the class where I taught unconventional weapons. He can tell you from experience what it’s like to be on the wrong side of a harmonica.”
Nitro shakes his head: “I do not want to deal with that harmonica ever again.”
It’s one of a number of items carried by the team that are legal, but can still do damage in a fight.
Some wear studded gloves. One has a long metal torch that can be used as a club.
Deaths Head Moth admits he sometimes uses violence.
Serial killer
“I don’t do this to punish the wicked but to protect their victims,” he says.
“But some people just don’t take kindly to being politely asked to stop what they’re doing.”
The authorities say crime fighting should be left to the police, although the New York Police Department refused to comment on the group’s activities.
Zero is scornful. “Check the stats,” he says. “They don’t show up.”
A serial killer has been targeting prostitutes in New York. The team’s offering protection to women who think they’re at risk.
“We’re doing what we can,” says Zero. “If we had something else to offer, we would offer that.”
‘Crazy cool’
Around us in the South Bronx is evidence of drug dealing.
“Little crack baggies,” explains Deaths Head Moth. “They’re about the size of a postage stamp.”
It’s a quiet patrol though, and the team think their presence has stopped deals from going ahead.
“They’ll see us and take off running,” says Samaritan. “They go to the dark corners that all insects retreat to.”
“We’re doing something,” adds Zero. “It’s better than sitting on our asses and complaining about it.”
Does he think their costumes might look a bit silly though?
“I really don’t. What we wear is gear. If it’s a little extra designed, it’s crazy cool, you know? I get a lot of compliments on it.”

The police department leading the investigation into the Long Island Serial Killer is in some fairly serious disarray. The New York Post reported today that the head of the investigation, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer, has been removed not just from the case, but from his job, because he let slip too many details to the press. He’s the one who told reporters that some of the bodies were wrapped in burlap, that the victims were prostitutes, and that the killer found them on Craigslist. He “embarrassed the department,” the Post’s source said.
With the investigation apparently stalled and the police fighting amongst themselves, who’s left to protect the women this killer preys on? It would appear that job has fallen to–or rather been seized by–a vigilante group calling itself the New York Initiative. Posing on their Facebook page dressed in retro-futuristic body armor and steampunk goggles, and calling themselves superheroes without irony, the group posted an ad on Craigslist last week offering its advice and services to sex workers:

If you absolutely don’t have a friend to help you [track your movements while on a date], you may use the services of the New York Initiative as your personal log book, as well as your rescue team in the event of an emergency. If you choose to do this, we will provide you with a number to call and a few one-number or one word codes you can say or text to us so that we can contact someone to assist you with a possibly violent date. Another idea is keeping us on speed dial, and if things get weird just call us and let the line open. We’ll know what’s going on immediately.
We also have other techniques which we can explain to you after confirmation via phone.

These guys obviously take themselves pretty seriously, but would some homicidal maniac do the same when they show up with their homemade armor and (presumably kind of foggy) goggles? And how long does it take to put all that stuff on, anyway? Regardless, they have a point: Letting somebody know where you are at all times and keeping in contact with a third party while on a date are both good techniques for sex workers to stay a little safer and still do their jobs.
Still, it’s hard to respond in earnest to the call from sex-worker advocates like writer Violet Blue to spread NYI’s message when they look like 12-year-olds at a Robocop-themed birthday party.

Originally posted:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1379952/Now-superheroes-step-help-protect-prostitutes-Craigslist-killer.html#ixzz1KaKAQTgU
By Daily Mail Reporter

Self-styled superheroes have offered their help in fighting the serial killer thought to be behind the murders of over a dozen prostitutes in New York City.
The New York Initiative (NYI) – a group of vigilantes who model themselves on comic book superheroes – have posted an advert on classified ads website Craigslist offering ‘rescue teams’ for hookers whose clients’ turn violent.
NYI, who identify themselves as a group of ‘martial arts trainers, security specialists, emergency first responders, drug counsellors, former military police and former law enforcement’, are also offering free martial arts and weapons training to the women.
The murderer stalking New York – dubbed the Craiglist Killer because he targets women selling sex through Craigslist – is thought to be behind the deaths up to 13 prostitutes.
Most of the bodies so far found had been dumped in scrub land on the southern coast of Long Island, New York. All had been strangled and stuffed in burlap sacks.
According to their advert, NYI have offered their help to prostitutes because ‘apparently the law doesn’t respect your personal choices and that means cops are slower to follow through when it comes to you.’
The group is offering ‘a number to call and a few one-number or one-word codes you can say or text to us so that we can contact someone to assist you with a possibly violent date.’
They add: ‘We will react quickly and without hesitation every time, using our considerable contacts to the full extent of their reach.’ And they promise not to involve the police unless there is a risk of ‘serious danger’.
The New York Initiative patrol the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan by night, attempting to deter crime.
Though they are loosely affiliated with the so-called Real Life Superheroes, unlike their more colourfully-dressed counterparts they tend not to wear masks and capes.

According to their website the group is composed of 11 members, with roles ranging from medic to combat specialist.
‘Our primary goal will always be to help those in the most need to the highest ethical standard and to the maximum effect,’ they say.
The ‘Craigslist ripper’ case started in December after the disappearance of 24-year-old Shannan Gilbert, a New Jersey prostitute who advertised on the site.
Although her body has not been found, the remains of 10 others have so far been uncovered with Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Amber Lynn Costello, 27, and  Megan Waterman, 22, the only identified victims so far.
Detectives have also investigated the possibility that the same serial killer may also be responsible for the deaths of  four prostitutes in Atlantic city in 2006.
New York detectives have begun to piece together a picture of the Craigslist killer.
According to experts, the man police are looking for is a white male in his mid 20’s to mid 40’s,  financially secure, well spoken and drives a nice car or truck.
Able to charm his victims into a false sense of security, he will also have access to burlap sacks as part of his job and will have been treated for poison ivy infections received as he disposed of the bodies in thick undergrowth.

Originally posted: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/04/nyc_superheroes.php
By Joe Coscarelli,
The New York Initiative, a local chapter of the Worldwide Real Life Superhero Community, describe themselves as a “free public security/community watch/community outreach program” working “to achieve peacekeeping objectives and humanitarian missions.” The vigilante crime fighters state that their “primary goal will always be to help those most in need to the highest ethical standards and to maximum effect.” They pick projects based on “unfolding events” and now, that means the Long Island serial killer thought to be responsible for the deaths of at least four, but as many as fourteen people already. Four of the identified victims, as well as four dead women found in New Jersey back in 2006, all worked as prostitutes on Craigslist, so the New York Initiative have taken to that site’s personals section with tips on how to avoid being next. What the hell, you may be thinking; it gets wackier, but it also makes some sense.
“We are doing this because we feel that law enforcement does not recognize these women as a priority,” the group explained in a press release. “We are taking steps to directly aid potential victims in hopes of preventing further murders by the Long Island Killer, as well as offering an ongoing system to prevent further violence against people at risk.” That’s actually a pretty rational explanation.
To the killer (or killers!) the group has this to say: “You have far overstepped a basic human boundary; you have claimed lives to feed your pitiful base desires. Unfortunately for you, no amount of pity is going to stop us.” That sounds slightly nuttier.
But the Initiative’s full ad on Craigslist, aimed at escorts, whom the group sees as potential victims, is amusing in its detail. Basically, they’re proposing that women take extra precautions when they go on a date, making sure to tell a friend all of the details. If a friend isn’t an option, the New York Initiative is volunteering to be every working woman’s “personal log book” in an attempt to help keep them safe.
“The Long Island Killer is out there,” the ad reads. “He’s a scary bastard, and it’s starting to seem like he is focusing on you pretty ladies because some people are slower to report you missing, and also because apparently the law doesn’t respect your personal choices and that means cops are slower to follow through when it comes to you.”
Here’s the full ad (sic throughout):

Hello, pretty lady!I’m writing you on behalf of a group called the New York Initiative (We are not affiliated with law enforcement), and with the hopes that I’ve created a system that will help keep you safe when you go on dates! You can find our facebook page through Google, as well as Google us with the words New York Press or Superheroes Documentary 2011 to find out what we’re about (Craigslist doesn’t allow me to post our URL)…yes, we look a little funny, but believe me when I say that we are all quite competent and capable of doing the things we say.
So with that out of the way, let me just get down to business… The Long Island Killer is out there. He’s a scary bastard, and it’s starting to seem like he is focusing on you pretty ladies because some people are slower to report you missing, and also because apparently the law doesn’t respect your personal choices and that means cops are slower to follow through when it comes to you. Well, I’m here to say FUCK THAT. We respect you as human beings, we believe in personal freedoms and think that you’re doing something that is absolutely your choice to do.
So rock on, ladies…We are on your side. With that said, we are here to help.
In lieu of this, I have devised two systems that will keep you safe… both law-enforcement free, but one meant specifically for you to do on your own, with a friend, and the other which offers our very distinct and unusual services (free of charge, of course).
OPTION 1: Whenever you have a date, make sure a friend knows the address you’re going. Have them write it down in a book made specifically for this purpose, with the times and dates included. If you can, when on the date, text your friend with the address you are at or the general area in case your date takes you somewhere else than he had earlier specified , and let your date know that a friend knows exactly where you’ll be if he starts to get “funny”.
Give your friend hourly updates on your location so if anything goes wrong, they can send someone to help you faster. We realize that this could alter the mood of your date, but in these crazy times, a pretty lady that’s ready is a pretty lady that’s alive. If your date watches the news at all, he will understand. Be wary if he doesn’t.
OPTION 2.If you absolutely don’t have a friend to help you with this, you may use the services of the New York Initiative as your personal log book, as well as your rescue team in the event of an emergency. If you choose to do this, we will provide you with a number to call and a few one-number or one word codes you can say or text to us so that we can contact someone to assist you with a possibly violent date. Another idea is keeping us on speed dial, and if things get weird just call us and let the line open. We’ll know what’s going on immediately.
We also have other techniques which we can explain to you after confirmation via phone.
We will react quickly and without hesitation every time, using our considerable contacts to the full extent of their reach.
We also want to extend to you our services as the NYI: Namely, practical martial arts training free of charge, as well as improvised weapons training free of charge (i.e. pens, phones, keys)…Add to this basic to advanced survival skills, or pretty much anything else you want to know about that will keep you safe out there.
We care about you. We want you alive, in this world, just like everyone else. Because you’re a human being, and you are deserving of love. The NYI loves you, and we’re here to bust the asses of any asshole trying to hurt you.
This is just one of the ways we can get the Long Island Killer off the streets, as well as make what you do safer.
Let me say one more time that we won’t involve law enforcement unless you are in serious danger. The logs will be kept personal and private, because what do the police need to know about your personal life, right? It’s just a date, for cryin’ out loud.
Be safe out there, whatever you choose. You are no longer alone.
-Zero and the New York Initiative
P.S. If you have any other ideas that we can help with to keep you safe out there, don’t be afraid to ask!

I’d like to thank Zero ( the original Z ) for creating a phrase for those of us within what the media labeled the real life superhero ( RLSH ) community who may or may not quite fit that colorful brand.
“X Alts” or extreme altruists is his commendable contribution to the lexicon.
Yes I have a code name but I’m a bit costume lite compared to most. Yes I’m a member of this community of creative activists; glory seekers; actual crime fighters and ” visionaries ” but Zero’s new term resonates with me on many levels.
I’m a very creative concerned citizen- that’s it. I’m not a vigilante nor a naive do gooder. I’m simply a highly socially concerned member of the public. Being part of a mobilized, passionate public has been my goal from Day One, along with using my lifelong interest in things super heroic to inspire others.
Zero is a serious thinker about our emerging field of activism. I’m not surprised he coined this phrase and will undoubtedly produce a body of work that will go a long way toward explaining the various tribes under the RLSH umbrella.
Some of us see ourselves as superheroes come to life. Others are creative actvists paying homage to a genre that allows folks to soar above the commonplace. Still more have allowed fantasy to overwhelm their grasp on reality.
Wherever you fit on the RLSH spectrum, we should all thank Zero for his invaluable input!
NADRA ENZI AKA CAPT BLACK promotes crime prevention and self-development through creative activism. Whether his outreach is RLSH or X ALT is up to the beholder. (504) 214-3082.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/little-altruism/201001/altruism-heroics-and-extreme-altrusim