“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead
Editor’s Note: Putting this newsletter together each week is a tiny, joyful, logistical miracle – collecting the scoops, the photos, and making sure a variety of voices show up on the page. Every week, I get messages about who or what I left out… which I genuinely appreciate. It’s a reminder that this is a community report, not a solo act.
Please consider this an open invitation: send tips, shoutouts, context, and additional gossip. As much as it may look like I’m everywhere, I’m still one person with one calendar and two feet. If you enjoy Skye’s Scoops, please share it, forward it, send to a friend to subscribe—and send them my way with intel.
And with a 67% open rate… I know you’re reading. I love you for it. Let’s keep going in 2026.
Scoops: December in New York is when the city runs on simultaneous tabs: celebration in one hand, transition anxiety in the other, and an undercurrent of “who’s staffing what” floating through even the warmest holiday rooms. This final week of 2025 had everything: two Hanukkah events booked for the exact same minute, a former Mayor appearing just long enough to vanish before confrontation, a Harlem hotel rebrand anchoring a book signing with real community muscle, midtown drinks that turned into a Penn Station portal, and a speakeasy finale where the Rockettes entered just before midnight, kicklining us into the New Year…
The opening scene was Hanukkah at Surrogate’s Court, where Kayla Aaron (JCRC), Josh Kramer (AJC), and Jason Koeppel (AIPAC) were in the mix – along with the kind of chatter that only gets louder when an era feels like it’s ending… Tiffany Raspberry and Jonathan Greenspun were clocking the size of the press pack, because everyone wanted to see whether Mayor Adams might say anything spicy at the last Hanukkah event of this chapter… Spotted in that same orbit: Nate Swidler, Daniel Marans (who started as press secretary in September under Kayla Mamelak— what does he do next?)… On the ground, the logistics were handled by Marci Isaacson and Jason Lippman from the Gracie Mansion events team – running this Surrogate’s Court operation because interest had outgrown Gracie’s capacity, and said to be planning to stay on with the new Mayor at the mansion… Outgoing deputy mayor of communications Fabien Levy moved through the room with two Israeli friends, one of whom had just moved here, almost to say: welcome to New York, where your first week can include a political transition and a latke in a courthouse. The Mayor showed up after the party call time had ended… allowing for people like Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny, Mayor’s Office of Combatting Antisemitism’s Moshe Davis and Deputy Chief of Staff Menashe Shapiro time on the mic, and Katie Honan from The City ample time to get some sufganiyot. Nearby, Jonathan Shabsheikis was talking about his role at Envision Strategy – with former Rep. Tim Bishop at the helm – still able to lobby on healthcare-related issues, with Simon Sebag, the Jewish Community Liaison from Jumaane Williams’ office, and Tzvi Brookman making the rounds…
At the exact same time, the City Council held its own Hanukkah party in Council Chambers, hosted by Eric Dinowitz and Julie Menin, with special remarks by Tsaach Saar, Deputy Consul General of Israel – introduced by Council Member Lynn Schulman. The fun fact of the night wasn’t policy; it was personality: Tsaach Saar is a DJ. Some people bounced back and forth between Council Chambers and Surrogate’s like it was a two-room concert and they were trying to catch both sets…
What shifted the temperature of the evening wasn’t a rumor – it was a story. Years ago, attorney Brad Gerstman heard that a Holocaust survivor, Sami Steigmann, was being relocated by the city from his subsidized Upper East Side apartment to the Bronx. Brad made some calls, got Sami into a unit on the Upper West Side, and once he heard the miraculous fuller backstory of survival, he pushed him to speak at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center in Nassau County – where Sami didn’t just “share,” he flourished, becoming an award-winning speaker of hope, life, and faith, with help from Dana Arschin, an Emmy Award winning reporter turned full-time storyteller at the Center. You may have seen Sami Steigmann in the news this week, too – the survivor whose invitation to speak at a Brooklyn public middle school was denied over concerns about his “messages around Israel and Palestine,” a decision that drew backlash precisely because Holocaust education is supposed to be the common ground, not the battleground… And it’s why even a Wall Street Journal conversation about the growing demand for “storytellers” hits differently here: in New York, this isn’t content – it’s memory, empathy, and survival, delivered human-to-human…
In midtown, the DHC holiday party at Sardi’s was so packed with political personalities that the coat check literally ran out of ticket stubs. With the recent passing of Sid Davidoff, the love in the room was extra strong (as were the drinks): DHC partners shared stories, and a slideshow traced Sid’s connection to the restaurant over the years. We heard Bill de Blasio was there for a short time, just long enough to inspire what was described (affectionately) as a Greek army, led by DHC’s commercial litigation attorney Charles Capetanakis, ready to approach the former Mayor to ask about his Greek ex-girlfriend Nomiki Konst… but he was gone by the time the group decided it might be fun to put him on the spot…
Naturally, the rumor mill was in peak form: questions swirled about what Julie Menin’s team and counsel will look like, which central staff decisions are made by her, who she’ll keep from the Adams administration – and when any of that will be decided. Meanwhile, DHC’s Arthur Goldstein was recounting his famous dance moves to Patrick Steffens (Avison Young) and Ian Brooks (CBRE), while Queens Chamber of Commerce’s Tom Grech riding his double Queens casino high (#QGTM). Assemblyman Landon Dais was still thawing from an outdoor toy drive earlier that day, and then the conversation did what December conversations do: swerved into holiday bling. Council Member Yusef Salaam – who went to school for jewelry design – showed off his Central Park Five hero pendant, plus a custom “YS” gold-and-diamond ring (initials for both Yusef Speaks and for him and his wife)… From there, conversation ricocheted back to Tom Grech, telling a wild story involving Council Member Salaam and a win on a Harlem real estate project – with the kind of New York detail you can’t make up: negotiating the move of a truck stop…
Others in the room: Jennifer Mitchell from The Doe Fund, Assemblyman Jordan Wright, and DHC’s Zack Fink, Matt Harnisch, and Nick Terzulli. Best part of the night? The DHC 50th anniversary chocolate bar – made by Lazar’s in Greenvale, the best chocolatier in the world…
Midweek shifted uptown for a book signing that doubled as a Harlem hospitality flex: Gary Jenkins, interim CEO of Urban Pathways and former DHS Commissioner, hosted a book talk and signing event for his memoir at The George at Columbia, the new Harlem Hilton, run by Promise Hospitality Group’s Tim Gjonbalic, Brian Bolanos, and Kathleen Diperna – ensuring all went smoothly in the room… The community-serving core was present: Angela Rivera-Accomando, of Golden Meals talking about her medically tailored meals; Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez, Commissioner for the NYS Department of Aging, Jodia Vanel, and Shams “Da Homeless Hero.” It was one of those nights that reminds you the city is held together as much by food boxes and back-end systems as it is by microphones and headlines… And because New York loves a second author subplot running alongside the first: former Senator David Carlucci hosted a signing at the Barnes & Noble in Nanuet this week for his book President Next: A Historical Roadmap to Forecasting the Future Next President… Midtown drinks with George Fontas, Frank Ricci, and Scott Crowley near Penn Station turned into low-grade espionage the second I stepped outside and thought I spotted Robyn Enes with her daughter Lola. (Why would Robyn be by Penn Station with her kid? Exactly.) So, I did what no normal person would do. I followed them… into a bar… and sure enough, there was a sign pointing upstairs: “Private Party: Catalina Cruz.” So I went up, confessed my stalker behavior, and was welcomed with open arms by the Assemblywoman, her team, and supporters. It helped that Robyn’s husband Bobby Link once gave me excellent tenant-landlord legal counsel—and that we’d missed Catalina Cruz at Style Across the Aisle because she was running a marathon in her native Colombia. Dozens of familiar faces were there: Michael Mallon, deputy Queens Deputy Borough President; Max Weprin in his signature animated spirit, Breeana Mulligan, Brian Romero who is running for Assembly; and former Senator Craig Johnson recalling his bartending debut during a cocktail party in the penthouse of the ESJ at SOMOS… John Samuelson, TWU International President, was already gearing up to make a splash at the St. Patrick’s Day parade. Janet Peguero—former Deputy Bronx Borough President, now at C&V Consulting was there too and Erycka Montoya told a wild tale about a recent visit to a place called Kinky’s Dessert Bar (google it…).
The week ended at an ice cream speakeasy on the Upper East Side—home to a Skye’s Scoops–themed birthday party I swore I didn’t want. Ariel Palitz made the case that celebrating can also be civic, and Jeff Garcia backed her up. Sometimes you don’t argue with government leaders when they’re being kind.
Amongst the handful of busy New Yorkers, Assemblyman Alex Bores stopped by (noted: in the personality race for NY-12, he picked up another point—though for the record, I share a birthday with Micah Lasher—but Alex was the only NY-12 candidate in the room). Evie Litwok, executive director of Witness to Mass Incarceration’s Art of Tailoring program, introduced herself to new friends as “a formerly incarcerated Jewish lesbian and daughter of Holocaust survivors,” because of course the theme of life is how you tell your story…
Then karaoke began and turned the bar into a talent show. NYC Council Chief Counsel Jason Otoño stepped up with “New York, New York” just as the Rockettes entered for a kickline, still sparkling from Radio City. Karaoke royalty—and BID queen—Laura Rothrock of the Long Island City Partnership delivered a perfect Britney Spears impression-voice. Dan Flores pulled everyone into a “Despacito” singalong. Nomiki Konst took “You’re So Vain” and slid in a line about South Tucson—because of course. Menashe Shapiro, Fabien Levy, and Moshe Davis from City Hall unwillingly volunteered a few words during the Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody,” proving that public service occasionally includes harmonizing.
I sang “Grillz” by Nelly—one of my favorite songs. Fun fact: when I was 12, I bedazzled my clear retainer and briefly had my own set of grillz. Trendsetting has a long arc.
And just when I thought the night couldn’t get more Skye-coded, John-Carlo Bautista handed me a DCAS challenge coin.
Skye Lights
There’s a moment that happens sometimes when a room stops being a room and starts being a chorus. That’s what I’m taking with me into 2026.
As you head into the new year, I hope you make a little time to look back at 2025: what you’re keeping, and what you’re done carrying. It’s never too late to make a new friend, extend a helping hand, or surprise yourself by being brave.
New York isn’t held together by announcements, it’s held together by participation. Say hi first. Smile like you mean it. Your world expands the second you stop being guarded.
My wish for us in 2026: be early, be kind on purpose, and let the story be built in public. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year… thank you for being part of this story.
