#PlanetHollywood #TimesSquare #StevenIncammicia #EliMarcus

The post Planet Hollywood, a Great Venue in TIMES SQUARE 42nd Street, Steven Incammicia speaks to us at an Eli Marcus Event appeared first on Good News!.

PlantCon International

How Parking Lot Meetups of 50 People Became the Nation’s Largest Plant Convention with 10,000 people.

This August 2025, PlantCon is traveling to New York City backed by some of the largest global names in the plant industry, including Kunzo Nishihata, a legend in the rare plant world from Hyogo, Japan; Summer Rayne Oakes, a renown YouTube star who pioneered the trend of bringing greenery into industrial spaces; and even The New York Botanical Garden. But, this grassroots movement didn’t always start with big names or major venues, it began with parking lots, tent weights, passionate hobbyists, and plant cuttings.

In 2020, when the world was shutting down, small online communities were seeing hoards of plant enthusiasts hit the scene. Loss of connection was so tangible that a household hobby like plant care was seeing a rise. Plant enthusiasts would join online marketplaces to meet up, sell plants, and share plant care tips – Kenny Nguyen, founder of PlantCon International, being one of them.

Kenny began to organize local meet ups in a furniture store parking lot for the community to gather, trade plants, and connect. What is usually an isolating indoor hobby, became a space for those who craved connection. Quick parking lot exchanges quickly became full day events. People lingered, laughed, and formed lasting friendships. As mass layoffs began and financial insecurities burdened families, plant sellers began relying on the income from the popups. In the midst of a global crisis, plants brought a sense of stability, comfort, and togetherness.

From there, the Houston Plant Market was born, helping local sellers sustain their businesses year-round. A scrappy team of three began hosting pop-ups in breweries, parks, and creative spaces across the city. Then, in 2022, PlantCon made its official debut, a 60 booth convention with no sponsors, no keynote speakers, and just four staff members. Over 2,000 people showed up. It was clear that this passion project had evolved into a movement.

Today, PlantCon steps into New York City for the very first time and will have over 10,000 people in attendance. The same familiar faces will travel for miles to see the show and new enthusiasts join the PlantCon community each year. From its humble beginnings in Houston, to New York City, and now scoping new cities to expand to next – PlantCon’s story is truly a reminder that with vision, community, and a whole lot of heart, you can grow something small into a movement that touches thousands.

“PlantCon has been such a labor of love,” says Kenny. “Building it up block by block over the years within our local community in Houston to bringing it all the way to Manhattan is unbelievable. I’m so thankful that so many people have found profound value in what we’re doing, and that the reception has been overwhelming no matter where we’ve been.”

Event Details

What: PlantCon International – New York

Where: The Seaport Level 4 at Pier 17 | 89 South St, New York, NY 10038

When: August 30–31, 2025

Tickets: plantcon.org/tickets-purchasenyc

About With Heart Collective

With Heart Collective is a non-profit event and production team focused on creating inclusive spaces and opportunities for small, minority-owned businesses and their customers. Their mission is to provide educational resources and support in areas such as tax compliance, branding, marketing and more, while fostering connections and promoting diversity within the community. Under With Heart Collective, the nonprofit organization includes Houston Plant Market, PlantCon International, Heart of Hou, The Vendor Alliance, and The Little Plant Library. As a proud AAPI, BIPOC, and Queer-led organization, With Heart Collective is dedicated to empowering underrepresented voices and promoting equity in entrepreneurship.

Press Contact

Eli Marcus

motivatea2z@gmail.com
plantcon.org/nyc-home
withheart.co

https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/nychappenings

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Social media is flooded with advertisements for popular obesity medications. But how do adults with obesity looking to lose weight avoid online scams selling knockoff versions that may not be safe and effective?

With the FDA’s recent decision to prohibit mass compounding of some obesity medications, there may be even more confusion about consumers’ options.

Here now to talk about what it means for patients and solutions to access authentic medicines are Dr. Clare Lee and Rhonda Pacheco from Eli Lilly and Company.

#clarelee #rhondapacheco #obesitymedication #weightloss #fda

The post BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS TO SAFE AND AUTHENTIC OBESITY MEDICATIONS appeared first on Good News!.

Thursday, February 20th at 6:00 p.m.

Harlem, N.Y., January 30, 2020 — Today the Apollo Theater announced it will screen the award-winning documentary Bakosó: Afrobeats of Cuba on Thursday, February 20th at 6:30 p.m., as part of ImageNation’s Cocktails & Cinema series. This screening marks the second installment in the Theater’s partnership with Harlem-based non-profit and will continue to be an ongoing quarterly event, which will highlight films that showcase the global Black experience. Bakosó: Afrobeats of Cuba, winner of the Best Feature Documentary at Belize International Film Festival, was directed by Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, curator of the Annual Fist Up Film Festival and co-founder of Defend Puerto Rico. The screening will be preceded by a reception and live DJ set by Bembona beginning at 6:00 p.m., followed by a post-film Q&A with director Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi; producer Khalil Jacobs-Fantauzzi; and Mai-Elka Prado Gil, founder of the Afro-Latino Festival of New York.

Bakosó: Afrobeats of Cuba follows DJ Jigüe to his hometown of Santiago de Cuba as he searches for new inspiration in the form of sound. Through his discovery of Afrobeats, DJ Jigüe ushers in an original sound creating a new genre called Bakosó, celebrating the connection between Africa and Cuba. The film’s score, created by the founders of the genre, and stunning visuals highlight the technology, culture, and landscape that shape this Afro-Caribbean fusion.

For more information, or to view the trailer for Bakosó: Afrobeats of Cuba, please visit: https://www.apollotheater.org/event/imagenations-cocktails-cinema-bakoso-afrobeats-of-cuba/

Ticket Info.
Tickets begin at $25 and includes appetizers and one beverage (wine or beer). A cash bar will be available. Tickets are available at the Apollo Theater Box Office: (212) 531-5305, 253 West 125th Street, and Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com.

About ImageNation
ImageNation Cinema Foundation is an innovative Harlem-based non-profit created to develop cinemas and audiences for independent films and music, that depict the global Black experience. ImageNation’s goal is to empower Black communities by presenting a variety of public programs that foster media equity, media literacy, solidarity, cross-cultural exchange and highlight the humanity of Pan-African people worldwide.

Led by Moikgantsi Kgama (Founder & Executive Director) and her husband Gregory Gates (Executive Producer), ImageNation has hosted film screenings, live music performances and other cultural events for more than 200,000 people worldwide since its inception. ImageNation is a founding partner in AFFRM, a national film distribution collective, founded by Ava DuVernay. ImageNation has presented internationally in South Africa, Scotland and Canada and domestically at Harvard University, MASS MOCA, Lincoln Center and in Dallas, TX, Los Angeles, CA, Baltimore, MD, Chicago, Ill, Indianapolis, IN, and Washington DC. Programs have featured appearances by luminaries such as Spike Lee, Lee Daniels, Ava DuVernay, Stanley Nelson, Ruby Dee, Erykah Badu, Chuck D, Raoul Peck, India. Arie and many others. In line with its commitment to Black cinema, ImageNation’s RAW SPACE, will be developed into the Sōl Cinema Cafe, a boutique cinema highlighting global Black film and culture.

About the Apollo Theater
The legendary Apollo Theater—the soul of American culture—plays a vital role in cultivating emerging artists and launching legends. Since its founding, the Apollo has served as a center of innovation and a creative catalyst for Harlem, the city of New York, and the world.

With music at its core, the Apollo’s programming extends to dance, theater, spoken word, and more. This includes the world premiere of the theatrical adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me and the New York premiere of the opera We Shall Not Be Moved; special programs such as the blockbuster concert Bruno Mars Live at the Apollo; 100: The Apollo Celebrates Ella; and the annual Africa Now! Festival. The non-profit Apollo Theater is a performing arts presenter, commissioner, and collaborator that also produces festivals, large-scale dance and musical works organized around a set of core initiatives that celebrate and extend the Apollo’s legacy through a contemporary lens, including the Women of the World (WOW) Festival as well as other multidisciplinary collaborations with partner organizations.

Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, the Apollo Theater has served as a testing ground for new artists working across a variety of art forms and has ushered in the emergence of many new musical genres—including jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, soul, and hip-hop. Among the countless legendary performers who launched their careers at the Apollo are Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, H.E.R., D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Machine Gun Kelly and Miri Ben Ari; and the Apollo’s forward-looking artistic vision continues to build on this legacy.

In fall 2020, the Apollo Theater will mark its first ever physical expansion with the theaters at the Victoria, part of the vision for a future Apollo Performing Arts Center. The theaters at the Victoria will support the growth of the Apollo’s artistic programming as it continues to provide a home to artists of color, create an expanded 21st century American performing arts canon, and provide additional educational and community programming in Harlem and beyond. For more information about the Apollo, visit www.ApolloTheater.org.

Support
The Apollo’s 2019-2020 season is made possible by leadership support from Coca-Cola, Citi, Ford Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Jerome L. Greene Arts Access Fund in the New York Community Trust, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Public support for the Apollo Theater is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

# # #

For more information, please contact:
press@apollotheater.org

#apollo #bakosó #afrobeats #cuba #cinema #bakoso #belize #international #film #festival #eli #jacobs #fantauzzi #jacobs-fantauzzi #defend #puerto #rico #producer #khalil #afro #latino #founders #visuals #technology #culture #caribbean #fusion #theater #apollotheater #pan-african #pan #african

The post Apollo Film Presents appeared first on Good News!.

DUKE ELLINGTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS  (DECFA) TO CELEBRATE 118^TH BIRTHDAY OF DUKE ELLINGTON WITH A FREE MUSICAL CELEBRATION ON APRIL 29, 2017 AT THE DUKE  ELLINGTON STATUE AT 110^TH STREET AND FIFTH AVENUE FROM 1 TO 3 PM

The Program, Titled  Ellington Swings in Harlem , Will Feature The Eli Yamin Orchestra , Jazz Vocalists Antoinette Montague and Marion Cowings, And Tony Waag and Members of His American Tap Dance Foundation

The Duke Ellington Center for the Arts (DECFA) will celebrate the 118th birthday of Duke Ellington with a Free all-Ellington musical performance on Saturday, April 29, 2017 from 1 to 3 PM which will be staged at the Duke Ellington statue that stands majestically at the corner of 110th Street and Fifth Avenue – the Gateway to Harlem, it was announced by noted dancer/choreographer Mercedes Ellington, Duke Ellington’s granddaughter, who is Founder/President of DECFA.  http://decfa.org/

The musical program, titled Ellington Swings in Harlem, produced by Mercedes Ellington, will star jazz vocalists Antoinette Montague and Marion Cowings, Tony Waag and members of his American Tap Dance Foundation and the swinging Eli Yamin Orchestra (EYO), featuring singers James Zollar and Claire Daly.

“This annual birthday celebration at my grandfather’s statue is very special to me,” says Ms. Ellington. “Uncle Edward – the name Ellington preferred to be called by members of his family – tried to instill his values with me. I started the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts in 2004 to ensure that these values – his musical legacy and the term ‘beyond category,’ which he used to define excellence – will live on. Along with the great work of Wynton Marsalis in this area, we are dedicated to make Uncle Edward’s legacy continually meaningful to new generations of musicians and music lovers.”

DECFA is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that plans on developing Duke Ellington’s staggering number of musical compositions (over 3,000) into multi-disciplinary theatrical presentations and educational programs, to be performed in many different types of venues all over the globe. The Center also tries to keep an accurate record of all things Ellington for the benefit of future generations.

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was born April 29, 1899 in Washington, DC, and died on May 24, 1974 in New York City. He was America’s most prolific composer of the 20th century in both volume and variety.

The post Free Musical Celebration of Duke Ellington’s 118th Birthday on Saturday, April 29, 1 to 3 PM, at Duke Ellington Statue in NYC appeared first on Good News!.