826NYC

Last updated
826NYC
Founded2004
FocusStudents ages 6-18
Location
Area served
Brooklyn, New York
ProductsSuperhero supplies
ServicesLiteracy education
Key people
Joan Kim, Scott Seeley, Dave Eggers, Sarah Vowell
Website http://www.826nyc.org/
http://www.superherosupplies.com/

826NYC is a nonprofit organization located in Park Slope, Brooklyn. It provides free after-school tutoring, workshops, in-schools tutoring, help for English language learners, and assistance with student publications. Drawing from a volunteer base of over 2,000, which includes many teachers, writers and journalism professionals, 826NYC unites students with tutors. It is a chapter of 826 National.

Contents

Facade

Detail of sign at the store's entrance. BSHS Sign Front.jpg
Detail of sign at the store's entrance.

826NYC is located in a "secret lair" behind The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company, [1] a store similar in eccentricity to 826 Valencia’s storefront pirate shop, and which sells capes, grappling hooks, utility belts (new and vintage), masks, tights, deflector bracelets, bottles of chaos and anti-gravity, secret identity kits, and more. Visitors to the store can try out capes for free in a cape-testing wind tunnel (essentially a series of fans on a pedestal). The store sells new and back issues of Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern , The Believer, Wholphin, and other McSweeney's publications. The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. also carries a complete stock of publications written and edited by students at 826NYC including Trapped: The Encyclopedia of Escape, Sonny Paine, and issues 1 and 2 of The 826NYC Review. The store front is literally a front for the charitable organization, with all sales going to the organization. The store employs volunteers.

The design of the store features many tongue-in-cheek signs and features, and the staff treat their products as real super-hero supplies, and visitors as real super-heroes. The secret lair to the student learning and activity center lies behind a swinging bookcase.

Events

826NYC is known for hosting culturally innovative fundraising events. In August 2006, 826NYC was the starting point for the Revenge Of The Book Eaters Tour, which stopped in each of the six cities home to an 826 National center. The NYC stop, at The Beacon Theatre, featured performances by Jon Stewart, David Byrne, Sufjan Stevens, Dave Eggers, Sarah Vowell, John Hodgman, Eric Bogosian, Jonathan Coulton, and John Roderick in an evening that promised once and for all to settle the debate: words or music–which is better?

Other 826NYC fundraising events have included 826NYC Art Show (curated by Marcel Dzama and David Zwirner Gallery), 826NYC Fashion Show/Spring 2006 Collection (featuring crimefighting-wear designed by Marc Jacobs, Zac Posen, Jack Spade, Behnaz Sarafpour, Rebecca Taylor, Kenneth Cole, and Benjamin Cho, modeled by The Daily Show correspondents Kathleen Hanna and Amy Sedaris), McSweeney's vs. They Might Be Giants (based on Issue #6 of McSweeneys, held at Lincoln Center), How I Learned To Read (Eric Bogosian, Bob Balaban, Cynthia Nixon, Justin Theroux, Sam Rockwell, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Martha Plimpton, and Kristen Johnston read their favorite classic children's stories).

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superhero</span> Type of stock character

A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses superpowers, abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, or dedicating themselves to protecting the public and fighting crime. Superhero fiction is the genre of fiction that is centered on such characters, especially, since the 1930s, in American comic books, as well as in Japanese media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Bogosian</span> Actor, playwright, monologist, novelist

Eric Bogosian is an American actor, playwright, monologuist, novelist, and historian. Descended from Armenian American immigrants, he grew up in Watertown and Woburn, Massachusetts, and attended University of Chicago and Oberlin College. His numerous plays include subUrbia (1994) and Pulitzer Prize in Drama finalist Talk Radio (1987), which were adapted to film by Richard Linklater and Oliver Stone, respectively. He also starred as Arno in the Safdie brothers' critically acclaimed film Uncut Gems (2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Vowell</span> American author, journalist and voice actress

Sarah Jane Vowell is an American author, journalist, essayist, social commentator and voice actress. She has written seven nonfiction books on American history and culture. She was a contributing editor for the radio program This American Life on Public Radio International from 1996 to 2008, where she produced numerous commentaries and documentaries and toured the country in many of the program's live shows. She was also the voice of Violet Parr in the 2004 animated film The Incredibles and its 2018 sequel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McSweeney's</span> American publishing house

McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco.

<i>Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules</i> 2005 book edited by David Sedaris

Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a 2005 anthology of short stories edited by David Sedaris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellowjacket (Charlton Comics)</span> Comics character

Yellowjacket is a fictional super-hero, and the first to be published by the company that would become Charlton Comics. He first appeared in Yellowjacket Comics #1.

The Web is a fictional character, a superhero created by MLJ Comics in 1942 by artist John Cassone and an unknown writer. The character was published in Zip Comics until 1943, and was later brought back in 1966 to appear in Archie's revived superhero line. DC Comics licensed Archie's superhero characters in 1991, and brought a new revival of the character to life in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourism in New York City</span>

New York City received a ninth consecutive annual record of approximately 65.2 million tourists in 2018, one of the world’s busiest tourist attractions, counting not just overnight visitors but anyone visiting for the day from over 50 miles away, including commuters. Overall the city welcomed 37.9 million visitors who stayed overnight in 2018, of which 13.6 million were international. Major destinations include the Empire State Building, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island, Broadway theatre productions, Central Park, Times Square, Coney Island, the Financial District, museums, and sports stadiums. Other major visitor activities include luxury shopping along Fifth and Madison Avenues; entertainment events such as the Tribeca Film Festival; Randalls Island music festivals such as Governors Ball, Panorama and Electric Zoo; and free performances in Central Park at Summerstage and Delacorte Theater. Many New York City ethnic enclaves, such as Jackson Heights, Flushing, and Brighton Beach are major shopping destinations for first and second generation Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">826 National</span> American nonprofit organization

826 National is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students, ages 6–18, improve their expository and creative writing skills. The organization's eight chapters include 826 Valencia in San Francisco, 826NYC in Brooklyn, 826LA in Los Angeles, 826CHI in Chicago, 826Michigan, 826 Boston in Boston, 826DC in Washington, DC, and 826 New Orleans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">826LA</span> American nonprofit organization

826LA is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6–18 with their creative and expository writing skills and helping teachers inspire their students to write. Programs are structured around the beliefs that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. 826LA was founded in 2005 and is one of several chapters of 826 National. To serve students across Los Angeles' various regions, there are two locations: 826LA in Mar Vista and 826LA in Echo Park. The organization also operates Writers' Rooms on the campuses of Manual Arts High School in South Los Angeles and Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights, and offers a range of virtual writing and tutoring programs.

<i>Hero</i> (novel) 2007 novel by Perry Moore

Hero is a 2007 Lambda-winning novel, and the only novel by openly gay film producer and novelist Perry Moore. The fantasy novel is about a teenage superhero, Thom Creed, who must deal with his ex-superhero father's disgrace, his own sexuality, and a murderer stalking the world's heroes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midtown Comics</span> Comic book shops

Midtown Comics is a New York City comic book retailer with three shops in Manhattan and an e-commerce website. The largest comic book store in the United States, the company opened its first store in the Times Square area in 1997. Its second was opened on Lexington Avenue in 2004, and is known as the Grand Central store for its proximity to Grand Central Terminal. Its downtown store was opened on Fulton Street in the Financial District in November 2010, and its Astoria, Queens outlet store opened in March 2020. It also used to operate a boutique inside Manhattan's Times Square Toys R Us.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshuah Bearman</span> American journalist

Joshuah Bearman is an American journalist. He has written for Rolling Stone, Harper's, Wired, The New York Times Magazine, The Believer, and McSweeney's, and contributes to This American Life. Bearman was a contributing producer on the documentary, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. Bearman is an advisory board member of 826LA, a non-profit tutoring organization in Los Angeles. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">826 Valencia</span> Educational nonprofit organization

826 Valencia is a non-profit organization in the Mission District of San Francisco, California, United States, dedicated to helping children and young adults develop writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. It was the basis for the 826 National organization, which has centers on the United States with the same goal.

Kenneth Bruffee was an American writing center administrator and professor emeritus in the department of English at Brooklyn College.

Spells Writing Lab, Inc. aka (“Spells”) is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that develops the creative and expository writing abilities of school-age children, 6 to 18 years old, through writing programs and teacher development. Spells was inspired by the model established by 826 National an organization started by educator Nínive Calegari and Dave Eggers, author of "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius," and founder of the publishing house, McSweeney's. Philly Spells is currently applying to join the 826 National network through the 826 National Chapter Development Process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Writer's Block</span> Bookseller publisher in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.

The Writer's Block is an independent bookseller, publisher, and literacy educator in downtown Las Vegas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janina Scarlet</span> Clinical psychologist

Janina Scarlet is a Ukrainian-born American author and clinical psychologist. She is known for incorporating and utilizing popular culture references in treating patients.

Chris Molnar is a writer, editor, filmmaker and publisher. He is the co-founder of The Writer's Block bookstore in Las Vegas, and editorial director of Archway Editions, the literary imprint of powerHouse Books distributed by Simon & Schuster.

References

  1. "Home". superherosupplies.com.