Prepare to be prepared, New York: a new superhero has arrived in the city, and she's primed to take Gotham by storm.
The NYC Emergency Management Department unveiled Ready Girl, its new "emergency preparedness superhero," on Wednesday morning to a group of third graders from Park Slope's P.S. 39 at Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co., which operates as both a costume shop and a tutoring center.
During the event, Ready Girl showed the kids how to identify emergency contacts, pack "Go Bags" and make their own superhero costumes, just in time for Halloween. Ready Girl was also joined by Forest Hills' own Spider-Man for the event.
Ready Girl was devised and played by Katelyn James, the department's community outreach organizer, who said the idea was born out of a desire to find approachable ways to discuss emergency preparedness with kids and teens.
"Superheroes are popular and are good role models," she said, admitting that she wasn't a major comic book fan. "I used to perform and dance and be in theater, so I think I'm attracted to this way of teaching kids."
James said Ready Girl is a 16-year-old from Long Island City. She received her superpowers three years ago — the same year as Superstorm Sandy, though the NYC Emergency Management Department would not confirm the connection — after she helped her family escape an emergency by having an "emergency plan" beforehand.
As for Ready Girl's future endeavors, she is set to visit schools, fairs and other events around the city. According to the release accompanying the event, NYC Emergency Management staff have visited 400 schools, conducted 800 workshops and assemblies and trained more than 90,000 students.
"We're also looking into developing a Ready Girl cartoon and comic sometime down the road," said Deputy Press Secretary Omar Bourne.
Joshua Mandelbaum, Executive Director of 826NYC, a nonprofit organization that offers free creative writing programs to kids and teenagers inside Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co., was excited about the new hero.
"Welcome Ready Girl! Go forth and make New York ready!" he said in a statement.
