wait... you can't wear a "costume" in NYC w/out a permit??

MFK: wait... you can't wear a "costume" in NYC w/out a permit??

Halloween must be held at county lockup every year.

MFK: wait... you can't wear a "costume" in NYC w/out a permit??

Welcome to your free country, citizen.
Pay up, shut up, and move along.
/you get what you deserve when you refuse to fight for freedom.

I guess Hallowe'en is a real revenue generator, eh?

/oh, they don't enforce the law that day?
//hypocrites

Good... we finally got those vigilantes behind bars where they belong!

You're free to do and say whatever they tell you it's okay.

/Hi
//Welcome to America
///The land of retards that think freedom is a catch phrase

Wouldn't try walking those streets in a man-kini either.

MFK: wait... you can't wear a "costume" in NYC w/out a permit??

New York is one of several states that do not protect that right. Florida, fortunately, *is*, though that didn't keep cops from arresting a guy who dresses as Batman down in Tampa.

Police are very bad at knowing the laws they are supposed to be enforcing.

Do I need a permit if I'm a real superhero?

Not defending the cops on this one, HOWEVER, from TFA, they were trying to find out if the two were street performers - which DOES require a permit - when Superman freaked out. They let Batman go, and probably would have let Superman go, too if he hadn't eaten some bad kryptonite.

vudukungfu

MFK: wait... you can't wear a "costume" in NYC w/out a permit??

Welcome to your free country, citizen.
Pay up, shut up, and move along.
/you get what you deserve when you refuse to fight for freedom.

It sounds like Superman was fighting for freedom,and lost.

They should know not to do this, especially after the Keene Act. By the way, did they arrest Rorschach yet?

FTA: "[Batman] walked off with the Statue of Liberty."

Giggity.

I thought this sort of thing only happened in Bush's amerika, or Ghouliani's New York.

This was a law passed in a democratic republic, where citizens elected, of their own free will, asshats who chose to legislate what those citizens are allowed to wear.

Proving, as our leftie friends already secretly know in their little dark hearts, that democracy != freedom.

/Ya rly.
//Get on Indymedia, and see how many times the words "freedom" or "liberty" are mentioned.

...and then the Invisible Man said, "I don't know what it was either, but my arse sure hurts."

/veal
//try it

What happens when Obama visits NY? Does he get arrested for dressing up as a Democratic Christian??

When did NYC become part of the USA?

I hadn't realised that costumed heroes had anything to do with bringing down the WTC. This is why I don't read any comics newer than silver age.

That girlie cop is on top of Supes is kind of cute. I would've wrestled around with her for a bit.

FTFA: Their comic-book adventure went awry when cops approached the dynamic duo on 43rd Street to see whether they had the required license to perform in costume in public, Frisoli said.

So, earlier in the article it said they were walking around, dressed up, for laughs. And then the cops thought they were street performers.

Now, I can see how they would attract attention (Batman and Superman, not exactly blending in like Agent Smith), but walking around in a costume isn't a street performance. It's being silly and walking around in a costume. Now, if they had a cap out, and were taking money while putting on skits, that's performing.

It sounds like some idiot cops just wanted to bust the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader. They didn't even keep Batman in custody or charge him with anything, it was Superman that got slapped with fines after resisting arrest.

/Keene Act
//Always enforced, apparently

In their defense I don't think they need ID to determine if they are street performers.

It took SEVEN police officers to subdue one dork in a superman costume?

/Thinks this MIGHT be an appropriate time to taze someone instead. How long did it take to muster up SEVEN officers of the law to tackle him. In the picture, it didn't look like girly cop was doing much more than laying on top of him while big poppa cop was just laying over her cuffing him. (I'm sure he was enjoying it too).

And as for the permit thing, wtf. It doesn't seem the appropriate action to immediately arrest the offenders, this seems like warning type situation like this:

Officer: Hello citizen, I should inform you it is against the law to perform in the street in costume without a permit, do you have one? (probably knowing full well they don't)

Dork: Really? oh, well, I don't have a permit, I didn't know you needed one to wear a sweet-ass superman costume and bring merriment to the people of NYC.

This is where the story could and did diverge from logic...

Officer uses Tackle!
It's super effective!
Dork was defeated!

"Begorah, Commisioner, it's the Dynamic Duo gone bad for sure!"

"Calm down O'Hara, this is obviously the trick of some fiendish felon such as the Joker, that drated clown prince of crime."

Knows that Godzilla doesn't care what humans do.

This actually reminds me of the time I was going to a party. It was late October and I saw three guys run up Broadway towards Astor Place. The two guys in the back were dressed as prisoners and the guy in the front was dressed in a certain red suit with a lightning bolt on his chest. As he ran past me, he shouted "YOU CAN'T CATCH ME! I'M THE FLASH!"

If you can be arrested in America for wearing low-riding pants then wearing your underpants on the outside is just asking for trouble.

Wanted for questioning.



Seen wringing hands and cackling.

its been illegal to dress as a super hero in NYC since the Keene Act back in 1977

WTF is this sh*t? You have to have a license to wear a costume now in NYC? Do they arrest everyone on Halloween? It's bad enough you can be arrested for dancing in bar in NYC and now this.

You can't wear a costume in New York? New York? Seriously? What, is it just too weird? Might scare the children? Hell, I see stranger things in Kansas on a daily basis and nobody gets arrested.

dan78: its been illegal to dress as a super hero in NYC since the Keene Act back in 1977

Came for this

Quis custodiat ipsos custodies

Which political party should I support if I want small government? I'm not a fan of the NSA tapping my phone or the government printing $1 trillion of monopoly money each year to pay for things they can't actually afford.

Officer: Hello citizen, I should inform you it is against the law to perform in the street in costume without a permit, do you have one? (probably knowing full well they don't)

"Walking" hardly constitutes a 'performance'.

So it was


vs.



?

And Batman cooperated while Superman resisted arrest?



disapproves

pugsleythegreat: It took SEVEN police officers to subdue one dork in a superman costume?

Ever tried to hold someone down and cuff them when they didnt want to be cuffed? It is damn near impossible.

Unknown_Poltroon: pugsleythegreat: It took SEVEN police officers to subdue one dork in a superman costume?

Ever tried to hold someone down and cuff them when they didnt want to be cuffed? It is damn near impossible.

especially when their powers are made stronger from our yellow sun

madblader: You're free to do and say whatever they tell you it's okay.

/Hi
//Welcome to America
///The land of retards that think freedom is a catch phrase

We were told Freedom is a country over by Spain. They fry potatoes over there. Very strange culture. Though the terrurists must be kind of retarded- if they hate Freedom so much why are they messing with us? They're not even on the right continent!

I guess this is what they mean when they speak of the 'fashion police'.

Wow, you could be on your way to a costume theme party and wind up arrested for it.

Ha, I saw Superman yesterday. He was playing patriotic marching music at full volume on a ghetto blaster near Herald Sq. Glad he's in prison.

As absurd as it sounds to arrest these guys for wearing costumes, I'm not sure this is telling the whole story. I saw a couple of guys in superhero costumes on 42nd and Bway two days ago putting on a very amateurish show on the corner they blocked out for tourists to sit. It would not surprise me to learn it is the same guys.

Not to say the NYPD isn't prone to fascism in this post-9/11 Giuliani world. NOthing those guys love more than picking on easy marks.

Man, first you can't have firearms there, and now this?

NYC..the unfortunate urban sprawl between Upstate NY and the rest of the country. At least it still has some tall buildings, and the Statue of Liberty (which is being moved to an as-of-yet undeterminned state that still HAS liberty).

/Glad its OK to hate NY again.

In our post 9/11 world, I see plenty of women like Dust from the X-Men. They never seem to get hassled about their costumes...

For those saying "What is wrong with them running around in costumes", do remember that most of us here aren't visiting for shiats and giggles. When I'm trying to get across the street from my office for a slice of pizza or something, and I've got 2 dorks putting on a lame show from a bunch of Fatasses from Peoria who are impressed that a guy could scrounge up 100 bucks to rent an out of season haloween costume, and they are blocking the entire sidewalk doing so, I'm not going to shed a tear when they get pummled.

Besides, Times Square is, and forever will be, Naked Cowboy territory.

I work in Times Square, and we see performers dressed up all the time, there is a really annoying Elmo who is usually in front of our building.
These two people were not just I'm NYC, but from the photo, that red road is Broadway which has been closed to traffic. They mostly use the permit rule to get the bums who try this in The area. If they had showed ID's the cops would have just sent them on their way. I am also willing to bet people were taking photos with them, and possibly tipping them.
And no the cops do not go around during Halloween and check if people are performers. I walked through Times Square last year dressed as the grim reaper.

LineNoise "For those saying ...

Your panties. Unbunch them.

It's good to know that 7 police officers are protecting the citizens and visitors of New York City......

Oh right, 9/11 changed everything and allowed police to bully others.

"Do you have a permit to dress up?"

"Do you have ID?"

"Ok then instead of saying get out of here, I'm arresting you"

Where DOES one keep an ID in a Superman costume?

Of course you are allowed to walk around in costume. If they were walking around the Upper East Side or Riverside like that the cops probably wouldn't take a second look. But if you are walking around a highly touristy area people are going to wonder if it's some kind of show. And there is a concern that Times Square will turn into Hollywood Boulevard with costumed freaks trying to weasel money for taking pictures. It helps not freak out and punch a cop, unless you want to win a free trip to the pokey.

To be honest I didn't know that you needed a permit to perform in public in costume in NYC. I do know that you do not need a permit to sell books in the street. That's why Broadway in Upper West Side has used book seller are nearly every block.