- My name is Chris Pollak, but most people know me
as the Dark Guardian.
I was at a point in my life where I really wanted
to change things around and do some good, and I said,
"Hey, why can't I be like a super hero and go out
"and fight crime and help people?"
And I talked to a couple of people about it,
and some of us went out and started doing it.
Boston Square Park, we're about to get a group
of dealers out of there.
You guys gotta leave the park, I've called the cops.
You guys gotta get out.
So, every patrol will vary from night to night.
Some nights I may just be trying to deter crime
in a certain area.
Some nights I may be hitting an area where there's just
been a certain recent crime just to try to keep people safe,
or I may be targeting something like gangs or drug dealers.
Certain gangs causing problems in areas.
There's been a lot of dangerous times on patrols.
I've had guys flash guns at us, threaten to kill me,
hold up a broken bottle, been up against a group
of real bad people.
It happens from time to time over 13 years,
man, I've been in some danger.
- You better have a badge, man.
- No, I do not, friend.
- If you don't have a badge, don't come over here fucking
with me, man.
Mind your fucking business.
- This is my business.
I'm willing to put my life on the line
to protect the community, to keep people a little safer,
to stop a bad element, because that's who I am.
Yeah, I'm afraid.
I don't want to die.
I don't want to get hurt, but I'm willing
to put myself on the line.
It's part of who I am and what I do.
Probably been around the park about 10 times.
Right over in this corner, there's 10 to 20 guys.
It's an organized crew of drug dealers.
They are armed.
They don't want to sell anything.
They don't want to do anything when I'm standing
around them, so part of what I'm doing is
just trying to deter the crime, stop it from happening,
and being a hindrance to their business,
at least for a while.
But if they do something in front of me,
that's when I'm gonna confront them.
Real-life super heroes is a very loose idea,
where there's actually people all over the country,
and all around the world actually taking
on super hero personas and going out
and trying to help people or fight crime.
- My name is Chaim Lazaros, but I'm also known as Life,
and I'm a real life superhero here in New York City.
What I do as a real-life super hero is
what's called Street Homeless Outreach.
The reality of the world is that aren't people running
out of banks with big burlap sacks with dollar signs
on them that you slug.
The reality of the world is that there is now 60,000
homeless people in New York City.
We actually go out and do real world acts of good.
This is actually a haven kind of for homeless people
because there's a lot of transient people waiting
for trains, so homeless people are pretty safe.
They can get air conditioning and stuff around this area,
so there's often homeless people around this area.
So, we're gonna look around for homeless people,
find them, help them out with some life packs.
In a life pack is socks, toothbrush, shaver, soap,
some grain bars, few little things to help someone
get through the night.
When I'm dressed like this, I'm not the same person
that I am when I'm wearing jeans and a tee shirt.
I think very much like probably a police officer feels
or a priest feels or a doctor or nurse feels,
when they put on their uniform, they're trying
to be something better than themselves.
You get them...
- I'll give them to people.
- Thanks, you know what, that's it, cause you know what...
- That's why I'm here, bro.
What? - Giving is strength,
Am I right?
- That's right, baby.
- That's right.
And not to paint the homeless in any sort of negative light,
but some of them do have mental problems,
some of them do have drug issues,
some of them have alcohol issues,
and I have had knives, sharpened screwdrivers,
shivs, stuff like that pulled on me because you have
to be very cognizant that you don't know their mental state,
and that you have to respect their personal space.
A very common thread that I see is, "What!
"You dress like a super hero," and then they get to talk
to me and they're like, "Whoa, but you're actually helping
"a bunch of homeless people every single night.
"You're going down there.
"You're getting gritty, and you're actually giving them
"very needed things that is not being provided."
- People want to think of me as a super hero, people want
to think of me as a community activist.
Whatever it is, I just want to do some good.
I just want to help some people
and make a difference in whatever way I can.