Welcome to the Sugary Scoop, my free biweekly newsletter where we help you see and experience the magic of NYC that I love so much through curated events, experiences, artists, and community stories.

Let’s get to this week’s Scoop!

Friday 🍬 11.22

• Nov. 22nd (Soho): Make A Wish: A Very Sugary Birthday - Here’s my birthday wish: celebrating with the people who matter most. Join me for an evening of music, food, and connection—but remember, it’s going to be Fine Folk rules. Spots are limited, and RSVPing doesn’t guarantee a spot, so bring someone you truly value. _{(Social Battery Level: High Extrovert - Crowd Size 50-75)}

  • RSVP Here

Saturday 🍬 11.24

• Nov. 24th (SoHo): A Simple Thanksgiving Potluck - There’s a lot to be thankful for and so we’re putting together an amazing spread with out community to share the love of the season. Come join us for a simple evening of good eats and good company. _{(Social Battery Level: Medium Ambivert - Crowd Size 30-40)}

  • RSVP Here

_{(Space is very limited for each of these events so if you’d like to attend to any of these events, please hit the RSVP button below sooner than later!)}

NOTABLE NYC EVENTS THIS WEEK

Wednesday 🍬 11.13

• 6:00pm (NYC): Groover x New Colossus Presents: Nathan Dies / Yael S. Copeland / Ilandria - RSVP Here.

Thursday 🍬 11.14

• 6:00pm (Midtown): THE CHEMISTRY OF JOY - ​​Join us for an engaging evening of thought-provoking discussion as we delve into the true chemistry of joy. We’ll explore the complex science of MDMA and its groundbreaking therapeutic potential, along with the transformative effects of legal plant medicines such as kanna, cacao, and cannabis, revealing how they can help open hearts and minds.

  • RSVP HERE

Friday 🍬 11.15

• 6:00pm (Bushwick): Sip & Shoot @Umbra - Our friend and event photographer Adam Ninyo will be hosting a sip & shoot this Friday @ Umbra from 6-8pm! Come through - get some free portraits. Stay after to hear some great live music. Support local photographers, restaurants, and musicians all at once. _{(Social Battery Level: Extrovert - Crowd Size 30}

  • RSVP Here

Friday/Saturday 🍬 11.15 - 11.16

• 8:00pm (Midtown East): Art Bath Fall ‘24 Season Show 3 - Art Bath is an immersive performance salon that fosters artistic community, exploration, and exchange. Hosted at the historic Blue Building on E. 46th St, Art Bath presents an eclectic spectrum of artists in a raw and intimate environment. Part concert and part art party, Art Bath offers fertile ground for forward-thinking artistic creation and experimentation. _{(Social Battery Level: Extrovert - Crowd Size 100)}

  • RSVP Here. (Use code ARTBATH10 for a discount).

Tuesday 🍬 11.19

• 6:30pm (Gramercy): Creator Economy NYC's Mixer & Panel: How To Turn Yourself Into a Brand - ​Whether you’re a creator or just starting to build your personal brand, your differentiator is YOU. Our panel includes three creators who turned their personal lives into content careers, and they’ll share how you can do the same.

  • RSVP HERE 

1000 shirts sold!

Our first major milestone.

It all started about a year ago, when I embarked on a bold attempt to launch a global campaign to inspire greater empathy in the world.

It was based on my tiny pandemic project which has since taken on a bit of a life of its own.

We recruited world class artists who rallied to the cause and rolled out an ambitious campaign that we began rallying support on one sale at a time.

And a year later we actually made it…hard to believe. 

Big shout out to Andy Choi and Do Good Points for believing in this project when they did and providing the initial investment and support to help get things off the ground.

Thank you to our artists Alana Tsui, Bradley Theodore, Karen Bystedt, Loan Chabanol, Peter Tunney, Tango Gao your designs brought a level of color to the campaign that is just so rare.

Mike Squillante and Tish Hyman for coming up with a freakin’ theme song for the campaign…you gotta believe in something…

The countless supporters and volunteers that helped make all our events possible. 

And of course to my friend, business partner and main oppressor-in-chief DK Kim. He suffers through my BS and continues trucking along…it’s a lot of BS…but hey I’m an insecure artist…sort of…😅

…you didn’t think that was it did you?

Of course not! The campaign presses on. The t-shirts will continue making their way out into the world as more folks identify with the need for more empathy.

But we’re getting ready for Phase II of the project which is focused on creating safe spaces for tough conversations. 

We’ve called it 

S P A C E: 

Powered by empathy.

Some of you have already heard about it and we’ve already had our first successful conversation. In time we’ll have another and the idea is to have these conversations on a semi-regular basis so that we can provide a forum for the necessary discussions we need to be having.

So thank you everyone for helping to bring this little project to life and let’s keep the momentum ever forward!

🍬🍭🍰 Sugary

If you haven’t gotten your shirt, consider getting one to support the cause HERE.

THE SUGARY EFFECT

Come Together, Right Now…

On the eve of this nation’s elections, I made the decision to take a public stand for my beliefs.

It was a personal choice rooted in taking a stand in what you believe in, come what may.  Say it loud and say it with your whole chest.

After drafting my thoughts, heart filled with inspired fervor, I hit send knowing that in doing so I’d be inviting some measure of polarized reaction.

It was all too predictable.

Here’s just a sample: 

Within 3 minutes of the post going live, a dear friend on my IG commented that they couldn’t possibly support a candidate that was a tacit enabler of a genocide.  This was followed by a swift sarcastic retort by another dear friend that this line of thinking cast things in an unfair light and created an impossible expectation to and therefore pointless.  

On one of my Facebook feeds less than 10 minutes in, a college friend expressed deep disappointment in my choice and made an aggressively tinged pitch for me to reconsider. This was picked up by another friend who decided to offer snarkily dismissive comments that resulted in an unhealthy exchange between the two (somehow, both had forgotten about me in the process).   

And it wasn’t just me, this pattern was ubiquitous and took root in nearly EVERY comment section of posts relating to the election I encountered far and wide.

What this told me is that we’ve gotten so wrapped up in our ideologies, we’ve stopped connecting with another person…

…as a person.

As I reflected on this growing disconnect, I started hearing the inspired calls for community from every corner of my algorithms as well as having it come up in conversations more than a dozen times.

Yes, community is important, now more than ever. But it’s only part of the picture.

Sure it’s important to find where you feel a sense of belonging to, be it a dinner circle, a church, a knitting circle, a sports league or what have you.

However these same communities that offer that connection and affinity are potentially social silos on the flip side of the same coin if we’re not careful.

We need to know who our neighbors are, what’s more we need to care. 

That only comes from an honest exchange of ideas and perspectives and that’s only gonna happen if we provide safe spaces to participate in such opportunities to step out of our mini echo chambers and find fascination in the unfamiliar once more.

It’s a big part of why I always look to elevate other communities beyond my own as well as seek regular collaborations as part of my programmatic DNA. 

It’s in our nature to be curious and we need to feed that aspect within all of us rather than starve it. It’s much harder for us to dismiss one another once we’ve found a tangible relation to ourselves.

The greatest gift any person could ever give you is perspective, of a world greater than you, that includes you yet exists in spite of you and that none of it is as scary as it may seem.

Let’s gather…let’s celebrate curiosity and let’s find the small moments of humanity in each other once more.

🍬 Sugary

So with that said…

Let’s Build Together: A New Kind of Community + Creator Event

PAST EVENTS

Nov. 5th: Election Night Watch Party - Over 200 of you joined us to experience our nation’s biggest night across 8 massive screens and even though I couldn’t be there personally, DK and my friend Sanjay held it down all night. Truly a historic night and regardless of which side of the fence all were welcome to join the patriotic revelry.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Alex Peter Idoko

Next time you refer to something as “fire”, be sure you do it next to visual artist Alex Peter Idoko, because he will take you literally.

This self-taught Lagos based Nigerian visual artist has always had a passion for art first getting his start drawing basic cartoons and family members.  

However his passions have evolved away from the plainness of a pen towards a panache for pyro.

Playing with fire takes on a whole new meaning with Idako whose themes are, “based on African realities, the freedom, advocacy for change, and solutions to challenges.”

Applying a variety of fine tuned techniques to literally scorch his hues and tones onto razor blade / charcoal etchings of wood and canvas sanded down, Idoko is able to convey a surprising about of subtlety and nuance through such a seemingly destructive act. 

The pieces take about a month or two each to complete but the process is well worth it when all is said and done with many of his pieces circumnavigating the globe across prestigious art festivals and are slowly working their way into much larger established galleries.

Definitely check out this artist’s work…his artistry is truly “fire”.

Isoken (Sample 1)

Endurance Train (Sample 2)

Untold Stories (Sample 3)

Connect IRL. Experience Fabrik.

Get in touch for a free week to come in and make new friends.

Fabrik is a home for communities and where everyone has a place to belong. With spaces designed to feel more like your living room than your office, Fabrik’s 'third spaces' are vibrant hubs where you can come together in real life, explore interests, forge meaningful connections, and enjoy a sense of community.

Sign-up here to experience a day pass at Fabrik.

Week of Nov 11th events at Fabrik HERE

Othership offers immersive sauna and ice bath experiences that help human beings feel good now. A sanctuary for social self-care to move you from city buzz to inner calm.

Dive into the largest performance saunas in North America, experience otherworldly ice bath spaces and connect in an intimate amphitheater-style tea lounge surrounding a cozy fire place for socializing.

Expect towel-waving performances, aromatherapy, guided breathwork, visualizations, and somatic release to help you shift your state and regulate your emotions, in a world that can’t be regulated.

The founders of Othership have gifted us a New York 2 for 1 Deal. Get yours while they last!

EMPATHY PROJECT

Support the Empathy Project by purchasing any of the items from the collection. Be a part of a unique initiative that empowers seven diverse artists to create one-of-a-kind empathy-inspired t-shirts. These shirts serve as iconography tied to our identity, promoting compassion-driven societal impact. 

Each artist picked a 501(c)3 charity of their choice to donate a portion of the sales of their t-shirt design. Your purchase also empowers voices, amplifies the message of empathy, supports charities, and elevates storytelling within our communities, all while building a network for compassion-driven societal change. Join us in making a lasting impact through art and empathy.

You can check out and purchase the 7 different empathy tees HERE