The secret behind a popular Superhero Supply Store in Brooklyn
NEW YORK - On Fifth Avenue in Park Slope stands a store like any other - if, of course, you're looking for a good disguise, or the element of surprise.
Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company stocks all sorts of goods a young hero would need.
"We have standards like invincibility, and omnipotence, and speed of light," explains Joshua Mandelbaum, picking up cans of the superpowers.
Starry-eyed kids browse around, trying on a new look on the cape-tester.
"Honestly, we need superheroes because when the villain attacks, it's always here, it's always here first!" Mandelbaum tells CBS2's Hannah Kliger.
But when you're done shopping for anything you may need to save the world, there's a secret door that takes you to the back of the building, housing a writing center. And that's where the real magic happens.
The retail space is run by 826NYC, a nonprofit literacy program for young people from underserved and marginalized communities. It's a venue for field trips, after-school programs and summer camps.
Mandelbaum is the Executive Director.
"They collaborate on creating a story, they vote on characters, they vote on setting," he says. "And they'll leave with that bound with their own covers and their own author credits."
The program, he says, allows elementary school kids to see their work in print.
"They come in at 10:30, they leave at 12:30 as published authors," he explains.
Brendan Jacotin, a store associate, went through the program at its inception in 2004.
"Being able to write well is really, really critical for self-expression," he says. "In terms of creativity, it really catapulted me."
Ten-year-old Cluny Smith was trying on a black and gold superhero cape. "I like fiction more, but I especially like making up characters," she says.
Free for qualifying students, the organization publishes and sells work by these young writers, and you'd be surprised by how popular they've become.
"We want our students to know that what they have to say is important and that they are authors. And seeing it in print has that power," Mandelbaum adds.
The program gives students a chance to imagine, create and write the heroes of their own stories.
Have a story idea or tip in Brooklyn? Email Hannah by CLICKING HERE.