The man who was seen riding on a hovercraft above Times Square is not a superhero or a supervillain, but he’s an engineer and a YouTuber. NBC New York’s Adam Harding reports.
He's not the Green Goblin from Spider-Man — but like Norman Osborn, the man seen in a viral video riding a hoverboard through Times Square is something of a scientist himself.
Crazy stunts are nothing new to the crossroads of the world, but the video showing Hunter Kowald riding 10-20 feet through the tourist destination brought things to new heights.
Kowald is the engineer behind the devices he calls the "SkySurfer hoverboard aircraft," which he designed and built, and has been perfecting for years.
"I guess over the years I've been interested in the art of flight. I've been trying to see if it would ever be possible or sustainable to be able to achieve flight in a smaller form to where it actually makes sense to use it on kind of an everyday basis," Kowald told NBC New York.
Millions of people have watched the wild clip of him surfing up Seventh Avenue.
And yes, while many have compared what is in the video to the infamous Spider-Man nemesis, Kowald is no villain — although the legality of such a device has been questioned.
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With air space heavily regulated in New York City, the FAA said they would "look into the matter." The NYPD said that they are "aware of the video and are looking into it."
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As for Kowald, he said that what he did was allowed.
"I've been speaking with everybody that we need to to make sure it was done properly in advance, pushing it forward in the right way. So, everything is taken care of for that," he said, but would not say who he spoke with to be given such permission.
The 28-year-old is now making headlines, and he said he hopes his plan to one day sell the machine takes off, and he's not grounding that dream any time soon.
"I'm excited to be leading this space and helping with the regulations," Kowald said.
