Yesterday two guys were handcuffed in Times Square for wandering around in Superman and Batman costumes. Police approached Maksim “Clark Kent” Katsnelson and Frank “Bruce Wayne” Frisoli and asked them if they had “the required license to perform in costume in public.” When they said they didn’t, the police tried to handcuff them. Frisoli, who was visiting from Maine, conceded, but Katsnelson freaked out. “The Man of Steel didn’t go down with just two officers, it took seven officers!” a witness told the Post. “He was putting up a good fight. Little kids were like, ‘Mommy, it’s Superman!’” Eventually, he allegedly punched a female cop in the face and was taken to the station for assault and resisting arrest.
Okay, two questions: One, it’s really illegal to wander around the city in a costume without a license? That not only seems like an onerous regulation for any city, but hello, this is New York. Is that a joke? Have you seen us?
Our second question is more easily answered: What kind of person thinks it would be awesome to wander around wearing a costume in Times Square, and then, when approached peacefully by police, actually fight back? We looked at Katsnelson’s Facebook page for an explanation — which we found in short order. That kind of person is the kind of person who has this as their “Favorite Quotation”:
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their hall of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
Even the smallest person can change the course of the future!
BIFF! WHAM! POW! [NYP]
Even the smallest person can change the course of the future!
BIFF! WHAM! POW! [NYP]
