Thursday, September 20, 2012
Brooklyn’s Superhero Supply Company, in Pictures
Posted by Kristin Iversen on Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 7:46 AM
There’s a warning label on the container of immortality. Apparently, “living forever isn’t as much fun as it sounds.” Maybe not, but if you spend some of your eternal life hanging out at Brooklyn’s Superhero Supply Company, you’re bound to have an interesting time.
The Superhero Supply Company is a front—a secret identity if you will—for the non-profit 826NYC, which promotes writing skills for children ages 6-18 through things like school field trips, after-school workshops, and on-site tutoring. These services are provided free for the kids because a majority of the people who work at 826NYC—whether as tutors or clerks in the Supply Company—are volunteers.
The Superhero Supply Company has operated out of its Park Slope storefront since 2004, containers of kryptonite displayed in the window alongside capes and maps of evildoers (avoid New Jersey!) Step inside and find everything from air blasters to cosmic thrusters, from anti-matter to matter. The store is fully operational—a jar of anti-matter will only set you back $12.99—but the real work at 826NYC goes on behind the scenes.
In fact, the real work goes on behind a trick bookshelf that pulls away to expose a secret library where kids can drop in on weekdays for after-school tutoring or take a variety of literacy- and creativity-centered workshops. And maybe, on the way out, they can grab a pair of Clark Kent-inspired glasses, to mask their inner super-hero until the time comes that a hero is needed in Brooklyn.
Slideshow
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About The Author
Kristin Iversen
Kristin Iversen is the Managing Editor at Brooklyn Magazine and the L Magazine. She has been described as "a hipster buzzword made flesh." This seems pretty accurate.
