PHOTOS BY BOB KRASNER
From left, Clayton Patterson
presented Crystal Field, of Theater for the New City, with
the Lifetime Achievement Award, as Phoebe Legere emcee’d the proceedings.
Ackers honor avant-garde’s ‘real heroes’
mation.”
“This award means more to me than any other,
because my life is avant-garde theater,” noted Melba
LaRose.
Trigger, former owner of the late, lamented Continental
bar, reminisced about his friend Joey Ramone’s
last show, which took place at his club. An
Acker Award “honors the past, present and future,”
he remarked.
Musician Jesse Malin related how he “found my
tribe on St. Mark’s Place.”
Power Malu began his turn at the mic with a
tribute to Patterson and ended with an impassioned
spoken-word piece about the plight of posthurricane
Puerto Rico. Community activist Lila
Mejia also had Puerto Rico on her mind, as she offered
T-shirts for sale to raise money for the island.
Tattoo artist Tommy Houlihan thanked his mother,
who bought him his fi rst tattoo machine.
Patterson, who spoke only sporadically during the
ceremony, summed up the reasons for the Ackers’
existence.
“If we don’t save our own history, who will?” he
asked. Explaining his desire to recognize local talent,
he explained, “A lot of the time, the real heroes are
the ones you don’t know about until years later. The
real geniuses are in the background.
“These are people who inspire the community,”
he added. “I’m not trying for a crew, I’m going for a
community.”
BY BOB KRASNER
If you want to receive an Acker Award, keep doing
what you’re doing — and who knows? — it could
happen.
In the meantime, if you want to get a seat at the
ceremony, get there early. The East Village community
quickly fi lled the seats at The Theater for the
New City, sending the staff scrambling to bring in
extra seats and fl oor cushions, and still part of the
audience was left standing.
The draw was longtime resident Clayton Patterson’s
annual salute to the people who make the
East Village / Lower East Side what it is. Honoring
an eclectic mix of avant-garde artists, musicians,
writers, fi lmmakers, activists and more, the
evening moved quickly as emcee Phoebe Legere —
appropriately dressed as a very fashionable ringmaster
— presented each award.
Patterson hung back, handing out the boxes containing
a mix of memorabilia and art contributed by
the winners, and occasionally snapping pics.
Crystal Field, director of TNC, received the fi rst
award for Lifetime Achievement. Field gave a brief
speech, noting that she thought that “things are getting
better,” while reminding us that “we are a grain
of sand in history’s march forward.”
Cynthia Carr, a writer and historian, received the
Candy Darling Award.
“I hope that I’ll end up deserving this someday,”
Ivan Galietti , who received the Jack Smith
Film Award, was adorned by Phoebe Legere
with a sash made by the late Jack Smith.
she said.
Linus Coraggio, of the Rivington School, accepted
his Acker “in the name of positive cultural transfor-
30 April 4, 2019 TVG Schneps Media