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  • Facial InsufficiencyPolitical Street Performance in New York City and the Selective Enforcement of the 1845 Mask Law
  • L.M. Bogad (bio)

240.35 LOITERING

A person is guilty of loitering when he:

[...]

4. Being masked or in any manner disguised by unusual or unnatural attire or facial alteration, loiters, remains or congregates in a public place with other persons so masked or disguised or knowingly permits or aids persons so masked or disguised to congregate in a public place; except that such conduct is not unlawful when it occurs in connection with a masquerade party or like entertainment if, when such entertainment is held in a city which has promulgated regulations in connection with such affairs, permission is first obtained from the police or other appropriate authorities. [...]

—New York Penal Code, Offenses Against Public Order

**Mayday 2001 Wrestling Madness**

*Superbarrio Man vs. Multi-Nefarious Bosses*

The odds may be stacked against us

The money may all be in the Boss Man's Hands

But come Mayday we will collectively smack THE MAN down to the MAT

Until he cries UNCLE

—Reclaim the Streets

(2001) [End Page 75]

May Day, 2001: Manhattan, outside 61 Fifth Avenue, March for the Rights of Immigrant Workers — Ricardo Dominguez shouts over the city noise, a booming syndicalist circus barker.

"In this corner—SUPERBARRIO! The Hero of the Neighborhood!"

About 500 UNITE Local 169 workers, Community Labor Coalition activists, and their sympathizers cheer as Superbarrio, a Mexican working-class hero in a bright red and yellow wrestling outfit and mask, acknowledges their support. Our New York incarnation of Superbarrio is played by Jerry Dominguez, a union organizer who is also trained in martial arts. He moves gracefully as he prepares to fight, standing in one corner of our "fighting ring"—made from a length of twine held at four corners by performing activists.

Ricardo introduces a series of colorfully costumed Nefarious Bosses and Archvillains to fight Superbarrio: The Unionbusting Thug, Nike Man (aka Phil Knight the Dark Knight), the cell-phone toting Billionaire, the Demonic Dollar, ruthless credit-card wielding shoppers, and La Migra.

Two accordion players provide a dramatic score as Superbarrio battles his constantly cheating foes. The Ref is earnest and focused, relentlessly running around, tensing his entire body, and blowing his whistle. Unfortunately, he is usually on the opposite side of the ring from the action, facing outward. As The Objective Press, I hold up a corner of the "ring," bang a gong to start each round, and, in my reportage, constantly denounce Superbarrio and praise his opponents. I also hit the hero from behind with the gong when he comes close enough. Nevertheless, with the support of the cheering crowd, Superbarrio beats his opponents two or three at a time and triumphs in the end.

This performance is the work of Reclaim the Streets (RTS) activists, who are there in colorful costumes to provide political satire for demonstrators and passersby. This activist group is dedicated to reclaiming increasingly hemmed-in, homogenized, and privatized public space for free expression and carnival.1 RTS, a movement which started in Britain, has received a surprising (and dismaying) amount of attention from certain select audiences. Nine days after this demonstration, and four months before the murderous Al Qaeda 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the FBI put out a report calling Reclaim the Streets part of the terrorist threat to the United States:

[...] Anarchists and extremist socialist groups—many of which, such as the Workers' World Party, Reclaim the Streets, and Carnival Against Capitalism—have an international presence [...] also represent a potential threat in the United States [...].

(FBI 2001)

On Fifth Avenue, the police are performing their own version of street theatre. There are about as many police as demonstrators, and the police, some heavily armed, form a solid ring of blue around the protesters at all times, whether marching or performing. When marching, we look like a column of prisoners under heavy guard. This wildly disproportionate police presence serves several purposes: to intimidate the demonstrators; to criminalize us to onlookers (we must be very dangerous if Giuliani has decided that it takes this many police to contain us...

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