STEVE LEWIS TALKS TO MICHAEL ALIG

Steve Lewis

August 27, 2009

I hear from Michael Alig quite often, although for many months I have stopped writing and visiting him. His bust in jail for illegal drugs indicated to me that he wasn’t taking my advice and efforts to reintroduce him to the world in a positive light seriously. He is in a repeat drug offender facility in solitary, with few privileges, about five hours from where I write. In a letter I received from him the other day, he was coherent and remorseful and understanding of my position. He has cut out many of the enablers from his ridiculous “fan club,” taking himself off their message boards. He seems to be trying again to get himself ready for the world. Our mutual friend, the brilliant artist Fernanda Cohen, visited him and read him the riot act. He swears he will embrace the “normal” and adult and creative friends he still has and forsake the Manson-like cult followers that celebrate all that is wrong about him.

Michael said, “That’s when it dawned on me ... it’s really the only thing you could do. A time away, like a long ‘time out,’ is what’s needed to instill in me the importance of being good. If I’m really understanding this completely, you’re doing this because you really do care.”

The right words for sure, but their sincerity coming from Michael—the master manipulator—is of course in question. I am of course an optimist and will always try to find the good in people, probably because so many have tried hard to find the good in me. Michael has been shown some leniency from the powers that control his destiny, and he may be getting out sooner than previously thought. I think a year from next May is a good bet. I will give him a holler in the next couple of days, as you all knew I would.

Today I got a message from Malaysia. I took most of it out because Malaysia has all sorts of repressive rules, and I didn’t want to cause any pain. The writer speaks of Michael and his influence and that of the club kid movement that Michael helped create. The club kid movement gave hope to gay people and disenfranchised young people all over the world. The creativity and love at the core of the movement needs to be celebrated—possibly preserved and maybe reborn. A freed Michael surely will not be much more than a reminder of how wrong things can go if drugs and greed corrupt good ideas, but a Michael purged of his demons or in control of them can be a positive influence. Here’s the letter with certain elements redacted:

… I am a former club kid. In my last year of school, we had a club in Kuala Lumpur by the name of Boom Boom Room, which was the home to many of us. For the first time, we weren’t stuck in dingy, decrepit gay clubs which were really in a pathetic state then. Not so surprising for a country which is a Muslim majority nation and quite strict on a lot of matters. You may have come across the recent headlines of a Muslim woman to be whipped for consuming beer.

So Boom Boom became my home from 1993. I had never heard of club kids before that, and never read Disco Bloodbath or watched the Party Monster documentary or movie until a couple of years ago. The “freaks” in us—just bonded for some reason, and it just disappeared for no reason sometime in 1997.

While I’d say we were more Disney compared to the more hardcore partying that must have been the scene there then, fashion, sex, drugs and booze was very much present.

The scene here however is now gone. People don’t really know how to have a good night out now—and club inhabitants now don’t celebrate the whole clubbing experience. I have followed the comments to your articles on Michael with much interest, and I share your sentiment. I am amazed how you can hold on to friendship. I may have found it way too difficult in your position as I see Michael—the positive and beautiful side of who he is aside, extremely self destructive.

Mr. Lewis updates us on that Pacha Drama

He Says:

The good news came via BlackBerry from Eddie Dean in Ibiza. Pacha won its hard-fought battle against the NYPD, who seemingly would stop at nothing to close the club down. I had sat in the back of the courthouse and listened to arguments from both sides, and although I was extremely biased towards the defendant, I tried to be objective. But I couldn't find a case in the government's case. It all seemed to get down to the concept that although Pacha was taking extraordinary measures to prevent drug sales on its premises, the sales continued. The police case seemed to be that the continuing operation of the mega-club was a drain on the department's resources. These resources would be better spent patrolling the nearby hood. All doughnut jokes aside, the argument didn't seem to impress Judge Joan Madden, who threw it out. I read the verdict, and indeed there are stipulations that make this less than a 100% victory for New York's last real mega-club; but for today, it's a reason to be cheerful.

Monitoring, continued searches, and security cameras are required, and this seems to be a reasonable course of action. I have obtained the verdict and offer it you here. Oh, and Eddie says the good folks over at Pacha Ibiza read this column, so here’s a shout-out to them. Pachas thrive in 25 or 26 cities around the world. It’s nice that Judge Madden says we can keep ours. Although Ibiza may be an extreme case, a great many places in this world embrace nightlife as an integral part of their fabric and tourist culture. Overseas house-heads coming to New York this summer have had virtually no outlet since Cielo was shuttered till September. Lets hope the police will play fair. They have in the past had their undercovers call drug dealers to make buys in clubs, then busted the club for allowing sales. That’s un-American and unfair. They have allowed known dealers to operate in clubs to “prove” that they could deal without getting caught, putting patrons at risk. That is unbelievably dangerous. What if someone had died from these drugs?

The police have been accused by many of punishing Pacha for hosting the after-party for the Puerto Rican Day parade; this annual party follows a city-sponsored celebration, yet an incident three blocks from the club brings the wrath of the police, who say that party should not have been booked. This, many say, is racism—and I agree. Judge Madden seems to have discounted the police theories of what is happening up on West 46th Street, an area devoid currently of neighbors but not developers’ ambitions. By the time the celebration for this court victory subsides, the weekend will be upon us, and invariably the police harassment of a lawful, tax-paying business will continue.

Read it HERE

Read Formika's Interview with Steve Lewis

It's a really great interview, one quote that stuck out to me was:

"The scene has spread from the megaclubs to hundreds of undiscovered little joints around town. While I sit here, a trial is taking place for the survival of one of the last remaining mega-clubs. Pacha is fighting for its life in a courtroom where reason and logic must prevail, or else we are all moving to LA. It seems strange that Pacha exists in 25 cities worldwide, yet New York can’t handle it."

Read the whole thing HERE