“Club Kid” Michael Alig stirred some controversy this week when flyers started making the rounds for his Monday night party at a Lower East Side nightlife venue.
According to Page 6, Alig was celebrating the end of his parole for the 1996 manslaughter of Andre “Angel” Melendez, “as well as his new gig as creative consultant of LES club the Rumpus Room.”
A campaign sprung up online that included a photo of Melendez and the following text: “This is Andre Angel Melendez. He would have been 45 years old, but he was violently [killed] by [Alig]…. Why are you inviting a violent killer of a Latino gay man in through the front door of your club?… This event is disrespectful.” There were also reportedly death threats.
Alig told the Post, “I didn’t really realize what a can of worms it would be, and we just kind of booked it without thinking, which was a real mistake. It should have been something very well-thought-out and done correctly with a nonprofit and made into a benefit.” Alig is now donating some of the proceeds and half his paycheck to Gateway Alcohol & Drug Treatment Centers.
Rumpus Room opened at 249 Eldridge St. last year following a high-end makeover of the former Sapphire Lounge space.
