Almost there: Welcome to Friday, dear readers, and not just any Friday but the Friday before the last full workweek of the year.
Yes, by this time next week, there will be only two shopping days until Christmas and most of us will be gearing up for a week’s worth of holiday celebrations, leading right up to New Year’s Day. Boy howdy, 2023 happened fast.
Gotta like his chances: Today is a day for underdogs — literal and otherwise.
Holiday road: On that note, Innovate Long Island will be busy cleaning up wrapping paper, lighting Kwanzaa candles and finalizing resolutions between Christmas and New Year’s, so watch for your regularly scheduled newsletters on Monday (Dec. 18) and Wednesday (Dec. 20), then enjoy time with family and friends … back at you Jan. 2 to kick off a fresh year of awesome innovation. Gentle reminders next week.
Puncher’s chance: Back here on Dec. 15, we kick things off with National Underdog Day, always pulling for Rocky, Rudy and other underestimated competitors on the third Friday of December.
Cupped crusaders: Salute your favorite longshot with a tasty combo – it’s both International Tea Day (honoring the world’s most popular beverage) and National Cupcake Day (celebrating the sprinkled/frosted handheld delights), both served fresh every Dec. 15.
Bill of goods: Also crusading were the three-fourths of existing state legislatures that ratified the first 10 Amendments of the U.S. Constitution – known collectively as the Bill of Rights – on this date in 1791. (There are now 27 Amendments, for those keeping score.)
Clean sweep: Whitworth’s streetwise invention but the horse before the cart.
Sweep success: Crusading for cleaner streets, English inventor Joseph Whitworth introduced the first mechanical street sweeper – a horse-drawn mechanism that actually debuted in Philadelphia – on Dec. 15, 1854.
Child support: Crusading for kids were the founders of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (now the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children), who launched history’s first anti-child abuse agency 148 years ago today.
Roll again: Crusading against boring old board games were Montreal Gazette photo editor Chris Haney and Canadian Press sports journalist Scott Abbott, who reinvented the genre when they rolled the dice on Trivial Pursuit on this date in 1979.
Dream weaver: And it was Dec. 15, 2009, when Boeing’s long-delayed 787 Dreamliner made its maiden flight, more than two years behind schedule.
The delay was partly due to Boeing’s decision to scrap previous designs for the Sonic Cruiser – which would have zipped along at just under the speed of sound – in favor of the Dreamliner, which is made of mostly composite materials and champions fuel efficiency.
By a thread: American pioneer and inventor Hannah Wilkinson Slater (1774-1812) – who created a new method of producing sewing thread from cotton and became the first woman to earn a U.S. patent, only to lose the title on a technicality – would be 249 years old today.
Ask questions later: Led by Johnson, “Miami Vice” broke the 1980s cop-show mold.
Also born on Dec. 15 were Roman Emperor Nero (37-68 CE), remembered best for burning Rome and living large; French civil engineer Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923), a well-known bridge-maker immortalized by his renowned Parisian tower; American British industrialist John Paul Getty Sr. (1892-1976), the petroleum magnate who became “the richest man in the history of the world”; English American mathematician and theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson (1923-2020), who articulated modern particle physics; and American theater and film director Julie Taymor (born 1952), the first woman to win a Tony Award for directing a Broadway musical.
“Vice” grip: And take a bow, Donnie Wayne “Don” Johnson! The American actor, producer and singer – a versatile performer who earned a Golden Globe Award (and an Emmy nomination) as “Miami Vice” Detective “Sonny” Crockett – turns 74 today.
Wish the fan favorite well at editor@inovateli.com, where we don’t live on a boat, drive a Ferrari or keep a pet alligator – but we do detect greatness in your news tips and calendar events.
About our sponsor: St. Joseph’s University has provided a diverse population of students in the New York metropolitan area with an affordable education rooted in the liberal arts tradition since 1916. Independent and coeducational, the university provides a strong academic and value-oriented education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, aiming to prepare each student for a life characterized by integrity, intellectual rigor, social responsibility, spiritual depth and service. Through its Long Island, Brooklyn and online campuses, the university offers degrees in 60 majors, special course offerings and certificates and affiliated and pre-professional programs. Learn more here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Move-in condition: The Laurel Homes public-housing complex has been successfully remade.
Welcome homes: Two much-needed Long Island residential developments received the gubernatorial treatment this week.
On Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul trumpeted the completion of the $50 million Laurel Homes redevelopment project, through which the North Hempstead Housing Authority and Jericho-based Georgica Green Ventures LLC reworked a dilapidated Roslyn Heights public-housing complex into 74 family-friendly, energy-efficient apartments, including eight designed specifically for seniors. On Tuesday, Hochul toured the construction site of a $112 million, mixed-use, transit-oriented development slated to bring “vibrant retail spaces,” 189 housing units – including 19 designated as workforce housing – and private underground parking to Hicksville.
Albany assisted both developments: The state pumped $17 million in federal low-income housing credits, $14 million in New York State Homes and Community Renewal subsidies and $10 million in permanent tax-exempt bonds into the Laurel Homes project, while AR Hicksville LLC’s mixed-use development collected $1 million through the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative award Hicksville snagged in 2017. “My administration’s commitment to increasing the supply of affordable, energy-efficient apartments is coming to life in communities throughout the state,” Hochul said. “I will continue to do everything in my power to … help ensure families have a safe, comfortable place to live.”
Welcome businesses: The Town of Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency is supporting a unique warehouse/distribution project in Shirley.
The IDA has issued final approvals for an undisclosed tax-incentives package benefiting developer September Morning LLC, which is building a ground-up, $14.5 million warehouse on 6.14 acres of vacant land inside the development agency’s fledgling Shirley Industrial Park. When completed, the 78,400-square-foot facility is projected to offer enough room for “two or three small to medium distribution companies,” according to the agency – a shared-space concept that breaks the mold of traditional warehouse/distribution centers, according to Town of Brookhaven IDA Chairman Frederick Braun III.
The project will also generate 54 construction-phase jobs and provide a host of long-term socioeconomic benefits, the chairman noted. “It will provide modern facilities for the smaller businesses, many of them home-grown, that are the mainstay of the industrial community in the Town of Brookhaven and across Long Island,” Braun said. “This is a unique kind of project that other developers have not considered and it provides an opportunity that we cannot let get by.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Game on: Stony Brook University’s new state-of-the-art Esports Room launches the university’s varsity-level program into the stratosphere of a wildly popular industry.
Don’t miss a thing: Monday’s Calendar Newsletter sure was a humdinger, especially the … wait, what? You didn’t read it? Well, it is subscriber-only – but that’s an always-easy, always-free fix.
ICYMI
Long Island’s largest-ever food-distribution center is up and running in Edgewood – great news for hundreds of Island pizzerias and thousands along the Eastern Seaboard.
BEST OF THE WEST (AND SOMETIMES NORTH/SOUTH)
Innovate LI’s inbox overrunneth with inspirational innovations from all North American corners. This week’s brightest out-of-towners:
From California: Irvine-based consumer-electronics creator Rokform leaps into action with new aluminum smartphone bike mounts.
From Kansas: Overland Park-based healthy beverage manufacturer AIC Drinks helps manage blood sugar, weight and diabetes with tasty new sports-drink alternatives.
From Canada, eh: Toronto-based technology innovator Confirm bolsters online-marketplace trust and security with new portable digital-identity solution.
ON THE MOVE
JiaJun Shan
+ JiaJun Shan has been hired as an associate in the Corporate Securities Group at East Meadow-based Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman. He was a U.S. customs and border protection compliance consultant at Woodmere-based SmarTech Consulting.
+ Joseph Townsend has been hired as an associate at Ronkonkoma-based Campolo, Middleton & McCormick. He was a summer associate at the firm.
+ Brian Doyle has been appointed to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. He is a co-managing shareholder at Greenberg Traurig’s Bridgehampton office.
+ Suzanne Shane has been appointed chief campus counsel of Stony Brook University. She served previously as interim chief campus counsel and is a former associate counsel at Long Island University.
+ Gary Brown has been elected to the Huntington-based Family Service League’s Board of Directors. He is the founder of Dream 68 in Central Islip.
+ Daniel Smith has been hired as a partner in the Matrimonial and Family Law Group at Jericho-based Meister Seelig & Fein. He was a partner at Lake Success-based Abrams Fensterman.
+ Donna DeVita has been appointed chairwoman of the Nassau Suffolk Law Services Advisory Council in Hempstead. She is the founder and owner of ESQuire Brand Management in Hauppauge and director of marketing at Islandia-based Lewis Johs Avallone Aviles.
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 St. Joe’s). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Classic Commercial Edition)
Lost the scent: Whatever happened to Enjoli perfume, anyway?
Bring home the bacon: Or not – suddenly, Americans aren’t eating pork.
Fry it up in a pan: With so many to choose from, selecting the best nonstick skillet.
And never let you forget you’re a man: The strange saga of Enjoli perfume – discontinued in 2011, still available on eBay.
’Cause I’m a woman: Or a man … doesn’t matter at coeducational St. Joseph’s University, one of the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, where the quality of a person’s character counts most. Check them out.
(Rings a bell: Now this will be stuck in your head all day.)
