On Monday (March 2) at the Capitale in the Bowery, Daniel Baker and Joel Martinez, better known as the Showtime late night duo Desus and Mero, received the Visionaries award from the Bronx Museum of the Arts.

Presented by borough president Ruben Diaz Jr., the award is something that means a lot to the pair of comedians.

“This means more than any Emmy or Oscar or whatever,” he said (after warning the crowd that he’d consumed a lot of the “house red”), said Mero, according to Variety. “When you get recognized by your home borough — your people — that means more than anything.”

Diaz Jr. urged the crowd, who were in attendance as part of a fundraising effort for the museum, to dig deep into their pockets in order to help the youth experience the same joy in visiting the museum that Desus and Mero did when they were younger.

“When you write your check tonight, don’t feel sorry for us,” Diaz said. “Give us the opportunity and the resources, and we’ll conquer the planet.”

Desus added a special thank you to his parents for immigrating to the Bronx from Jamaica in the 1970s. “They knew if they came to America their son would have a late-night show,” he joked.

Also recognized by the museum were Kathleen Chalfant and photographer/documentary filmmaker Henry Chalfant. Kathleen Chalfant called the museum “an essential institution” and urged the crowd to “keep it living.”