needles jones
This website is dedicated to celebrating the life and legacy of the one-and-only Needles Jones!
A life well squandered: celebrating needles jones
January 4, 2026 | Parkside lounge NYC
We gather together to celebrate Needles with a special memorial nightlife event in New York City. Organized by Earl Dax (perhaps the only person known to willingly claim Needles Jones as a drag mother), the event will feature a calvalcade of performers and friends whose lives were touched (often in ways that even penicillin couldn’t eradicate) by Philly’s oft-neglected but never forgotten “drag pariah,” Needles Jones.
Confirmed performers include: Penny Arcade, Machine Dazzle, Viva DeConcini, Raul de Nieves, Tami Johnson, Clara Latham, Shane O’Neil, Dusty Shoulders, Paul Soileau (aka Christeene), Darrell Thorne, and Tigger!
FARE THEE WELL, NEEDLES JONES!
A REFLECTION BY PENNY ARCADE
Fare thee well, Needles Jones!
Self proclaimed Drag Pariah
Ira Abamawitz was the closest thing to an American David Hoyle
Albeit a druggier , nuttier, punker, lazier, loucher version Transgressive as fuck. As Ira Abramawitz he was the East Village’s CLUB 57 longest manager in the early 80’s ….Then left NY for Philly with a suitcase of ratty wigs but left his Basquiat painting behind. Yes he was friends with everyone in that scene. He was a true icon of Artistic Resistance -still super smart after years of alcohol and drug abuse – by turns inspiring and infuriating.I passed many evenings with Needles hosting Earl Dax’s club night PUSSY FAGGOT! (Needles was Earl’s Drag Mother ) Louche as Needles was he never lost his taste for political resistance or class struggle.He left NY before I met him and consequently like many of those younger generations who became his adoring fans for 35 years in the Punk anarchist and DIY Philly scene mentoring several generations or like his raving NY fans in the first decade and a half in the 2000’s EAST VILLAGE Queer Performance scene – none of us EVER knew Needles young!
Susan Hannaford posted a gorgeous photo of Ira/Needles at Club 57 with a big Basquiat behind him. I take the liberty of posting it here for people who never knew Needles young – I think Needles would like that – we both rested on the laurels of squandering our youth!
I actually remember this face!
VALE NEEDLES! You never backed down!!
No Retreat! No Surrender!
photo :Lina Bertucci