Welcome to the Sugary Scoop, my free weekly 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!

The Sweet List Event App Is Live!

So it feels wonderfully appropriate that our final What’s New begins as a present to all of you, followed by an ask to all of you! 

As you may have noticed in last week’s newsletter we announced the initial test launch of our inaugural “The Sweet List”. If you’d been paying attention you might have noticed this announcement followed by legend breaking down the simple components.

Well I’m thrilled to announce that we are OFFICIALLY launching the event platform and you’re all invited to join us!

How to get access:

Visit: www.sugarynyc.com 

Took our survey back in October? Check your inbox. You're getting a separate email with a unique code that unlocks premium free through January. You helped shape this thing. You get it first.

To be clear, this is a present, not only because 

1. The service that it provides in which I’ve received countless bits of positive feedback.

2. We get to cover MORE events!

3. Your access code unlocks 7 days of full premium access. After that you move to the free tier

To get to this point, it’s required quite a bit of weekly effort on my part delving into every crack of the NYC social fabric weekly (email lists, WhatsApp groups, event sites, private group listservs, etc…) to discover gems and curate them as well as determine what were the most important details worthy “at-a-glance”. 

But I think equal recognition should be given to DK who essentially vibe coded the entire platform (and learned it from scratch) which is something I’d almost certainly not touch with a 10 foot pole.

Because you know that format that you’ve come to know and love, well it TAKES UP A LOT OF NEWSLETTER SPACE which means the more I write the less I can share per newsletter without it getting clipped and it was getting to an untenable point where I was having trouble letting you know about events even a week in advance with some events being close to or absolutely  SOLD OUT before I could even share it with you. Total bummer. Had to find a solution. 

So kudos to DK for delivering upon a mini Christmas miracle just in time for your holiday and future enjoyment!

See you on the other side and Happy Holidays everyone!

🍬 Sugary

THE SUGARY EFFECT

The Present, Unwrapped

Usually I conclude the year with some sort of facsimile version of Spotify Wrapped for the Sugary community.

But the cache of referencing this former titan, has lost some luster. We all felt right? How many looked at your Wrapped and said, “What?”

No, there were no treasures here. There were clearly other travails to “trove”.

The focus shouldn’t be on the past…

…nor of the future come to think of it.

Sure we have SO much in store for 2026…Community Week, a podcast, brand new membership structures, the launch of our new IG, more ambitious events and collaborations and other unexpected surprises…

But no that ain’t it either.

The fact that I’m with you, in the here and now IS the gift. So it’s really about the PRESENT. No more, no less. I’m so grateful for just that honestly.

I was struggling with this piece a bit and then as fate would have it, I was gifted sublime inspiration simply providing a small act of kindness…go figure…

My friend Eric texted me about an event I had featured in the Sugary Scoop in early December.

It was an intimate recitation hosted by COLLINS at the House of Sound loft (McIntosh Labs) featuring legendary award winning poet David Whyte.

Apparently this was my friend’s favorite living poet and when I confessed I was only vaguely familiar, it certainly cast my “cultured” card in a dubious light.

He was sad to learn RSVPs were no longer being accepted. Delicately, he asked if I knew anyone there that might be able to help. I mean damn…it WAS the guy’s absolute favorite living poet so…

I felt that holiday spirit in me so when he asked if it might be too sensitive an ask, I replied,

“It might be but fuck it…what’s the point of making friends if you can’t occasionally ask them for a bit of help hahahaha (btw, I never ask so…)”

“Just texted the house manager who I have done a successful event with at their previous location of 214 Lafayette”

“If I get us in, you would likely be the only guest I could bring. So 🤞🏼 “

C’mmmon holiday miracle….

And in a lightning quick turnaround the house manager replied simply…

“See you tomorrow at 4pm +1”

Hallelujah.

My friend was over the moon and I was so happy I could give him a truly meaningful early holiday present (and also see what all the fuss was about this David Whyte fellow).

The event was elegantly crafted from start to finish. A credit and sincere respect to the COLLINS team.

But it was when David walked into the room heralded by the pristine performance of the O’Suilleabhain brothers (one who flew all the way from Ireland just for the performance alone) that you knew something special was about to happen.

I was not prepared.

There in front of me an unassuming gentleman with slender frame and windswept silver-ish locks began to recite his own words of incalculable profundity:

“…the way that you followed, the way that carried you into your future, that brought you to this place,

no matter that it sometimes took your promise from you,

no matter that it had to break your heart along the way:

the sense of having walked from far inside yourself out into the revelation,

to have risked yourself for something that seemed to stand both inside you and far beyond you,

that called you back to the only road in the end you could follow, walking as you did,

in your rags of love and speaking in the voice that by night became a prayer for safe arrival,

so that one day you realized that what you wanted had already happened long ago and in the dwelling place you had lived in before you began,

and that every step along the way, you had carried the heart and the mind and the promise that first set you off and drew you on and that

you were more marvelous in your simple wish to find a way than the gilded roofs of any destination you could reach:

as if, all along, you had thought the end point might be a city with golden towers, and cheering crowds,

and turning the corner at what you thought was the end of the road, you found just a simple reflection,

and a clear revelation beneath the face looking back and beneath it another invitation,

all in one glimpse

…and the road still stretching on.”

(Full poem HERE)

…now I get why he’s Ireland’s most important living poet.

I looked over to my friend who was in full on tears, only to realize then and there that I was pretty much there as well.

Why was this so meaningful to me?

I was given another chance at life this year.

To linger in past failures or to drive myself crazy over too many grand schemes of the future takes my eyes off being present.

Truly present.

I don’t mean at a dinner party or algebra class.

I mean to have dared in the here and now, to have gone for the very thing I wanted and the ceaseless determination to try even when it felt in vain…foolish even, for surely many times it has…

…and to acknowledge it all, this very act is no small miracle…

They say it’s the journey not the end destination but we tend to think of journeys in terms of scope and breadth when perhaps it’s more about appreciating the steps you choose to take…and the next one…and then the next one after that in that measured and modest order. 

I’m so grateful for this moment and hope that you all will take more time to rejoice in the moments in your life as they are happening in 2026 and beyond, not for what they might mean when you look back, not for what they might mean for you down the road, but 

Simply. Right. Now.

For the holidays…for all your days…

As the year draws to a close along with this entry, I’ll conclude with another toast-worthy recitation I was privileged enough to hear that I hope will resonates with you…

“For the road to Santiago, 

don’t make new declarations  

about what to bring 

and what to leave behind. 

Bring what you have.

You were always going 

that way anyway,

you were always 

going there all along.”

🍬 Sugary (…with a little help from David Whyte)

SPECIAL HOLIDAY ASK

Community Week is happening this May. And it's already picking up serious momentum.

We just advanced to round two for the David Prize, an annual award given to five New Yorkers with ideas that can genuinely improve this city. And last week, close friends committed a donation north of $25K.

This thing is real. Now we need to build on it.

We're partnering again with Andy Choi and Do Good (the team behind our empathy T-shirt campaign) to raise additional capital. The campaign link is HERE.

I'll be direct: if you've ever rolled your eyes at "community" being used as a marketing buzzword by people who just want your money, same. This is the opposite of that. This is collective action with actual buy-in, built to improve the social fabric of this city.

Consider throwing some of your holiday giving our way. Even a little fuel on a fire that's already burning makes a difference.

PAST EVENTS

12/15 Holiday Haven - Our final event of the year! It was a modest and charming affair by design!  Nearly 40 of you registered for an evening of cookie decorating by “master cookier” (yes it’s a real term) Lynne Lee, origami ornament making by master origamist Theresa Hong, holiday doodle shenanigans provided by Christina Kaputsos and her new award winning game The Doodle Challenge, and of course…hand written holiday cards by yours truly.  It was an understated and motley affair and three things became extremely apparent…1) There're some SERIOUS cookiers among us 2) How in GOD’s name did our Asian elders figure out some of these patterns in origami? Like seriously. 3) Our doodles revealed more than a few of us had Schedule II controlled substances on our minds this holiday season. All I want for Christmas is…cocaine?!

AND DON’T SAY I DIDN’T TELL YOU ABOUT…

Living Room Cinema Club

The movie theatre experience may be quickly going the way of the dinosaurs, but that doesn’t mean the spirit of a shared cinematic experience isn’t very much alive and well.

From community movie nights, to public screenings to rooftop films, it seems you can find movie screenings popping up everywhere struggling to meet the demand.

Well add, but focus another one onto your list.

The Living Room Cinema Club is among the post Covid newer offerings in town.

Founded by four actual friends from the comfort of their collective living rooms (thus the namesake), the club is dedicated to the cinephile…though to be clear, we’re not strictly talking critically acclaimed art house films, we’re also talking about cult-classics and international type films as well. 

At a recent event I attended, there was a screening of Die Hard for the season which was an astute member-voted holiday movie selection (and yes…Die Hard IS a holiday film).

On the occasional gathering where the members have not voted in advance, the founding team does their best to offer an interesting title that they feel would vibe with the community.

All in all, I found the experience to be quite satisfying and I appreciated not only the diversity of the audience, but also the details put forth in everything from the ambiance, to the voting cards, even the appropriately themed menu items available for purchase.

When I asked one of the co-founders for a bit more insight on present and future plans, I learned that they have nearly 500 members and have conducted more than a dozen screenings to date and at the top of 2026, their plans for expansion include multiple cities, starting with LA while continuing to grow their original base in NYC that started it all.

So if you’re itching to catch a great film, meet some fellow movie lovers without the pretense of “networking”, and you crave just a bit more than Netflix and chill vibes (but no less cozy), I urge you to immerse yourself in the vibes of Living Room Cinema club and check out their next gathering. 

It’s an unpretentious alternative to what’s out there and one of the few good remaining ways to come together and enjoy the quintessential metro cinematic viewing experience.

Admit one please.

Connect IRL. Experience Fabrik.

Get in touch with NYC’s brightest communities 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 free trial at Fabrik.

Weekly events at Fabrik HERE

Othership

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!