It could very well be a first for the austere courtrooms of downtown Manhattan.
But there he was: “Superman” — or actually a 23-year-old man named Maksin Katsnelson dressed in the red-and-blue costume of the Man of Steel. He appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court at 100 Centre Street on Wednesday on disorderly conduct charges before being released on bail, paid by his mother.
A criminal complaint said that Mr. Katsnelson, in full Superman costume, was arrested on Tuesday at about 8 p.m. at Broadway and Central Park West in Manhattan. He had previously been arrested Thursday in front of 4 Times Square and charged with assault after he struck a police officer who was trying to bring him to a police station to issue a summons, a criminal complaint said.
On Tuesday, he was lying on the sidewalk, which, not surprisingly even in this city, caught the attention of a police officer.
“I am just tired, I am not going anywhere,” prosecutors quoted him as telling the police. “I am Superman, the Governorator, ” he said, according to a law official.
He then ran into the street. Vehicles swerved around him, the complaint said. He “flailed” his arms, refusing to be handcuffed, it said.
And so that was how he landed in Judge Alvin Yearwood’s courtroom, sitting on a hard bench at about 11 a.m. on Wednesday, with a hole in his tights, as prostitution and drunk driving suspects were called up to appear.
“This was the company that Superman was keeping,” said John Marshall Mantel, a freelance photographer for The New York Times who saw him there.
After his appearance on other misdemeanor charges including trespassing and resisting arrest, Mr. Katsnelson was released on $1,000 bail and left the courthouse, accompanied by his parents. He stood at the top of some stairs outside the courthouse, addressing reporters.
“He was generally presenting himself as a civil rights-minded humanist, and he does these things to protest authoritarianism,” said Mr. Mantel, describing Mr. Katsnelson’s chat with reporters.
Then his mother took his hand, and they walked to Hogan Place, pausing on the corner to allow his father to catch up.
At one point, a tattooed man wearing sunglasses approached him.
“Are you really Superman? Or are you in a TV show?” the man asked him.
Mr. Katsnelson is due back in court on Sept. 9. His lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
Comfort food! MMM!
