Nicholas Fevelo Freelance NYDN/Nicholas Fevelo
Dark Guardian Chris Pollak said that although he had few role models as a kid, he found inspiration in the valor of characters like Superman.
No powers? No problem.
A Staten Island man says he’s been patrolling the streets of New York as a real-life superhero for nearly 10 years, thwarting evildoers and protecting the defenseless. But now he wants to pass on his ways to the next generation.
“I’m really hoping to convey that there’s a hero in everybody,” Chris Pollak, 29, told the Daily News on Thursday. “Do something good. Don’t be a bystander. Don’t turn a blind eye when you see something bad going on.”
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Pollak, or the “Dark Guardian,” and other members of his superhero group, the New York Initiative, plan to open a superhero school in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn. They intend to teach martial arts, Parkour and heroic ideals. The school, tentatively named HERO, will be a headquarters for the Justice League-type ensemble to take action in the community, collect supplies for the homeless and hold seminars and fundraisers.
Courtesy of The Dark Guardian
‘I’m really hoping to convey that there’s a hero in everybody,’ Pollak said.
On off days, there will be a free program for underprivileged kids.
“I’m proud because he’s into doing the right thing,” his mother, Rose Pollak, 62, said to The News. “As a mother, I never understood it years ago. But now I understand it. He’s really into helping people who are struggling.”
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Pollak said he didn’t have many role models as he grew up but was inspired by the courageous example set by characters like Superman. He wondered why nobody suited up. So he started looking for crime, and it all evolved from there, he explained.
He is a martial arts instructor and has trained for 16 years in several disciplines: boxing, kickboxing, Filipino stick and knife fighting, grappling, Shotokan karate and Kenpo.
Photo courtesy New York Initiative
Members of the New York Initiative, a band of do-gooder citizens dressed as superheroes, fight crime on the streets of New York. From left to right, Dark Guardian, Athame, Spyder, Zero, and Spectre
These skills appear to have helped him in dicey situations. He said he’s dealt with pimps and drug dealers who have threatened him with guns. One time, he said, he had to subdue a man who was raging in a store on drugs until the police arrived to arrest him.
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At one point, the police at the 6th Precinct knew who he was but didn’t mind his lifestyle.
“The police are indifferent because I don’t break the law or cause a problem. They just don’t want anyone to get hurt,” he explained.
Though he’s never been interested in comic book conventions per se, he knows that children love superheroes and thinks they could be a great vehicle for teaching kids about helping the community and doing good for others.
“I’m so happy he’s going to open his own school, because he’s so good with kids. The kids all love him,” his mother said.
“We all need to find that hero inside,” Pollak said, “even if it’s just saying a nice thing to someone during their day.”
mwalsh@nydailynews.com
http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info/?p=16688
via Great Local News: New York http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info
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