New York had been anything but peaceful lately.
Or rather, New York had never been particularly peaceful.
It was just that recent events had a far greater impact than the usual minor scuffles.
Not long ago, Wilson Fisk, New York's underground emperor and the biggest gang boss in Hell's Kitchen, known as Kingpin, had finally been arrested through the combined efforts of the New York Police and the superhero Spider-Man.
After Fisk's arrest, New York's underworld underwent a major reshuffling. Thanks to the efforts of Spider-Man, the city's friendly neighborhood hero, however, most New Yorkers escaped any serious fallout.
In fact, when Kraft learned about this, he found himself scratching his head. Something similar seemed to have happened when he first crossed over to the previous world. He had arrived just after that unlucky bastard Kingpin was arrested, except the lead role had belonged to Daredevil rather than Spider-Man.
So... was this a recurring arrival point for these world crossings?
There was no scientific basis for it, but Kraft couldn't help thinking along those lines.
Yet shortly after Fisk's arrest, another major incident rocked New York.
Norman Osborn, the mayor of New York City and head of the Osborn Group, whose wealth and technology rivaled those of Iron Man, Tony Stark, was exposed for conducting horrific human experiments on homeless people and immigrants from overseas. Extensive documents and video footage backed up the accusations.
In addition, evidence showed that the recently arrested crime boss Wilson Fisk had climbed from an ordinary gang enforcer to New York's underground emperor with Norman Osborn's backing, and that Fisk had also participated in those human experiments.
These revelations placed Norman Osborn, as mayor of New York City, under immense public pressure.
Naturally, the people who leaked this information to the media were Martin Lee