Winter is here, kinda: Welcome to Wednesday, intrepid innovators, as another mild workweek rolls by in Long Island’s Winter That Winter Forgot.
Sure, sure, 18 snowflakes fell across the Island Tuesday, and yeah, a single-digit cold snap is vortexing our way – but just for a day or two. We’ll be unseasonably warm again in no time, you watch.
Melts on your roof: But not in your hands, on National Decorating With Candy Day.
Free spirited: Whether the weather waivers or warmth wins, we innovate – on Feb. 1, known best in the United States as National Freedom Day, and every day.
Topping off the annual commemoration of President Abraham Lincoln’s John Hancock on what would become the slavery-abolishing 13th Amendment is the slightly less noble – though arguably sweeter – National Decorating With Candy Day.
Go, Joe! And give it up for a real American hero – it’s also G.I. Joe Day, a yearly Feb. 1 salute to the 1964 release of Hasbro’s all-time toy.
Now in session: On the topic of real American heroes (maybe not all justices, but most), the U.S. Supreme Court convened for the first time on this date in 1790.
Milking it: Also reigning supreme is master innovator Gail Borden Jr., who first condensed milk 172 years ago today, according to the story.
The one and only: Checking suspects’ unique fingerprints quickly became Policework 101.
Evidently: It was Feb. 1, 1911, when People v. Jennings – officially, the first case to introduce fingerprints as plausible evidence in a trial, a turning point for American criminal justice – ended in a guilty verdict.
Multiplying fast: First calculating, then beating the odds was the Hewlett Packard HP-35, the world’s first scientific pocket calculator, which debuted on this date in 1972 and quickly became an unexpected hit.
My first guest: And speaking of dazzling debuts (and runaway hits), “Late Night with David Letterman” – featuring special guests Bill Murray and Don “Mr. Wizard” Herbert – premiered on the NBC Television Network on Feb. 1, 1982.
Dave’s first opening monologue featured dancing girls, the obligatory digs at NBC and an ominous warning from Larry “Bud” Melman.
Ford tough: American film director John Martin Feeney (1894-1973) – known professionally as John Ford and ranked among history’s most important and influential filmmakers – would be 129 years old today.
Real deal: Rousey plays it up at Wrestlemania, but the Olympic medalist and former MMA champion is as tough as they come.
Also born on Feb. 1 were English archaeologist Gertrude Caton-Thompson (1889-1985), who lived a life of discovery and adventure; American actor and film director Clark Gable (1901-1960), the one-time King of Hollywood; American playwright, poet, novelist and social activist Langston Hughes (1901-1967), an innovator of jazz poetry; American physicist Melba Phillips (1907-2004), a colleague of J. Robert Oppenheimer and pioneer of science education; and American street photographer Vivian Meier (1926-2009), a lifelong nanny whose photographic fame came posthumously.
Tough love: And take a bow, American combat-sports veteran Ronda Rousey! The two-time American Olympian (judo, 2004 and 2008), inaugural Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s champion and current World Wrestling Entertainment antihero turns 36 today.
Give the brawler your best at editor@innovateli.com, where we tackle your news tips, punch up your promotions and pin down your calendar events.
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BUT FIRST, THIS
No coupons required: Attention, shoppers – fresh educational opportunities await on Aisle 1, thanks to New York Tech and the National Supermarket Association.
The Old Westbury-based New York Institute of Technology and the Queens-based NSA – a trade association bonding 200 individual owners of 400 supermarkets in New York, Florida and multiple mid-Atlantic cities – are offering a New York Tech admissions advantage to NSA owners, their employees and their families. With information about the school’s undergraduate and MBA programs spreading across the interstate association, a slate of partial New York Tech scholarships has been reserved for the NSA community.
Covering at least 25 percent of accepted students’ full-time tuition, the scholarships fit nicely into the circa-1989 NSA, which was founded by Hispanic entrepreneurs specifically to support educational initiatives. National Supermarket Association President Samuel Collado trumpeted a golden opportunity for his membership, while Provost Jerry Balentine suggested an even broader socioeconomic opportunity at New York Tech. “This partnership model is one we hope to emulate with additional employers,” Balentine said, emphasizing the school’s commitment to “[creating] pathways for traditional and nontraditional students.”
Stage and screen: Assemblyman Thiele (left) and State Sen. Palumbo meet the Long Island Association at Sag Harbor Cinema.
Theater review: The Peconic Bay Community Housing Fund took center stage last week at a special Long Island Association road show.
The LIA’s Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee hosted a discussion for East End stakeholders at the Sag Harbor Cinema, where New York State Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-Riverhead) and Assemblyman Fred Thiele (D-Sag Harbor) – who sponsored the new law in their State Legislature chambers – reviewed the fund and its potential impact. Approved in November by special referendum in the towns of East Hampton, Southampton, Southold and Shelter Island, the PBCHF adds a half percent to local real estate transfer taxes, increases local zoning exemptions and calls for new community housing plans to help officials determine the best solutions to community-specific housing issues.
Noting that “housing is an acute issue on the East End,” LIA President and CEO Matt Cohen applauded the lawmakers for crossing political aisles to create common-sense solutions. “I commend Senator Palumbo and Assemblyman Thiele for offering the local governments an innovative and flexible way to meet their housing demand and catalyze economic growth,” Cohen added.
POD PEOPLE
Episode 36: Walter Stockton, innovative groupie.
Walter Stockton, founder of the circa-1978 Independent Group Home Living Project and the circa-2022 Kinexion Network, joins Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast to discuss five decades of science, compassion and progress for the Island’s most vulnerable populations – and the innovative umbrella giving the region’s busiest nonprofits a fighting chance.
TOP OF THE SITE
Intimate appraisals: A Hamptons gallery with a penchant for social relevance (and eye-opening art) is taking a slow and scenic route to personal wellness.
Exacting change: A successful digital transformation requires a comprehensive action plan that serves customers and employees – in that order, according to Bank of America’s Bob Isaksen.
Think bigger: Thank you for forwarding this educational and entertaining newsletter to your team – now do them an even bigger favor and sign them up. Subscriptions are always easy, always free.
VOICES
A code-blue financial crisis is threatening healthcare systems across New York State and the nation, according to former Northwell Health Senior Vice President and Voices healthcare anchor Terry Lynam, who warns that hospital closures are coming soon.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Fear not: A recession is no reason not to launch a business. Forbes forges on.
The ocean fuchsia: Surf’s up in California – and it’s a fairly bright brink. IFL Science hangs 10.
Redesigning innovation: Big Tech layoffs could spark an era of renewed creativity, led by displaced designers. Fast Co. looks ahead.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Paradigm, a New York City-based health-tech, raised $203 million in Series A funding led by ARCH Venture Partners, General Catalyst, F-Prime Capital, GV, LUX Capital, Mubadala Capital, Magnetic Ventures and the American Cancer Society’s BrightEdge fund.
+ Greyter Water Systems, a Colorado-based greywater-reuse innovator, raised $10 million in Series B funding led by Ferguson Ventures and LENX.
+ Prisms VR, a California-based math-education platform, raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz.
+ Boston Metal, a Massachusetts-based steel-decarbonization innovator, raised $120 million in Series C funding led by ArcelorMittal S.A., Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund and SiteGround Capital, among others.
+ Floodbase, a NYC-based climate-adaptation innovator providing flooding data and analysis, raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Lowercarbon Capital, Collaborative Fund, Floating Point and Vidavo.
+ Alleviant Medical, a Texas-based medical-device manufacturer, raised $75 million in equity funding led by S3 Ventures and RiverVest Venture Partners, among others.
Like this newsletter? Innovate Long Island newsletter, website and podcast sponsorships are a prime opportunity to reach the inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and executives you need to know (just ask Sahn Ward). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Cast Of Thousands Edition)
Who wore it best?: Live-action Bella Ramsey (left) and digitized Ashley Johnson as “The Last Of Us” heroine Ellie.
Cast off: The University of London offers the world’s first master’s degree in podcasting.
Cast party: The challenge of matching real-world actors to hit videogame characters.
Castaway: How ketchup saved a Caribbean castaway adrift at sea for weeks.
Cast your eyes: Please continue supporting the amazing firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Sahn Ward, where excellence and experience sharpen their focus on every land-use issue. Check them out.
