Secret Life of a Volunteer Superhero

Meet New York’s amateur avengers, the nighttime warriors who patrol our parks and safeguard our streets—spandex and face paint most definitely included.

Photos by Ali Hussein

I quickly duck behind a parked bus on a deserted street in East Harlem. It’s two a.m. on a warm Friday night in September and I’m crouched on the pavement hiding from a supposed gang member who ten minutes ago threatened to get rid of me. In my pursuit for safety I’m accompanied by two real life superheroes on a safety patrol.

The escorts in my descent to danger are Dark Guardian and Spectre, two New Yorkers who are part of a growing community of young, masked mystery men and women around the nation who don self-made costumes and spend their free time trying to stop drug deals, breakup robberies and prevent assaults.

There are hundreds of superheroes in cities across the nation. They fall under the umbrella group, Superheroes Anonymous, a volunteer-run organization that runs classes, workshops and discussions on the state of crime prevention nationwide. New York’s superheroes patrol the nighttime streets for crime, putting themselves in situations that ordinary citi…