Warm greetings: You’ve done it again, intrepid innovator! You’ve conquered another windy, dare we say wintry late-autumn workweek – and along the way, you brushed off Long Island’s first snowfall of the season (minor though it was).
As a reward, another well-earned weekend of holiday decorating and seasonal shopping awaits – plus this snappy week-ending innovation review, also certain to warm the old cockles.
Mixed feelings: Show a little love for your favorite mixologist today.
Hot and cold: Today is Dec. 6, and speaking of warming things up, we’re leading off with National Microwave Oven Day, honoring the creation of the leftovers-heating, corn-popping kitchen essential.
Alas, no oven of any kind is required by National Gazpacho Day, celebrating (?) the cold raw-vegetable soup.
A newsletterer is born: Today is also National Bartender Day, a first-Friday-of-December nod to mixologists, and National Pawnbrokers Day, an annual Dec. 6 salute to a quick-cash profession that dates back more than 3,000 years.
Both of which are entirely coincidental (though not lacking in irony) to the 54th anniversary of the birth of your humble newsletter scribe. (More birthdays below.)
Give it some thought: Another deep reservoir of universal knowledge celebrated today is the Encyclopedia Britannica, which was first published on Dec. 6, 1768, in Scotland.
Give it a look: Other information/education cornerstones associated with this date include the U.S. Naval Observatory – at once an astronomical observatory, national university and naval academy – which was proposed by President John Quincy Adams on Dec. 6, 1825, and officially established in Washington on Dec. 6, 1830.
Give it a read: Also gracing the District of Columbia (and the rest of the nation) with knowledge and perspective (from the left, certainly) is The Washington Post, which churned out Vol. 1, Issue 1 on this date in 1877.
Broadcast news: From tax reductions to equal rights to international postwar plans, “Silent Cal” packed a lot into the first-ever Presidential radio address.
Give him a listen: Also sharing information and perspective (more from the right) was President Calvin Coolidge, who delivered the first-ever Presidential radio address – to what was, at the time, the largest live audience in human history – 101 years ago today.
Give them a slim chance: And it was a tense couple of days for the crew of STS-27, the top-secret Space Shuttle mission that ended successfully on Dec. 6, 1988, when the heavily damaged Atlantis landed safely at California’s Edwards Air Force Base.
The shuttle (which was later revealed to have carried a secret U.S. Department of Defense reconnaissance satellite into orbit) suffered heat-shield damage during liftoff – and for most of the mission, the crew was pretty sure they were going to die.
Smash hits: Japanese businessman, videogame programmer and videogame designer Satoru Iwata (1959-2015) – who helped create the wildly popular “Pokémon” and “Super Smash Bros.” series and directed development of the Nintendo DS and Wii game consoles – would be 65 years old today.
Key contributor: Few made jazz as cool as legendary pianist Dave Brubeck.
Also born on Dec. 6 were French magician and illusionist Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin (1805-1871), a watchmaker by trade who lent his name to Harry Houdini and is remembered as the “Father of Modern Magic”; American journalist and poet Alfred Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918), who never met “Trees” he didn’t like; American lyricist Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz, 1896-1983), the first songwriter to win a Pulitzer Prize; American pianist and composer Dave Brubeck (1920-2012), a pioneer of “cool jazz”; and American internet entrepreneur and philanthropist Craig Newmark (born 1952), a former IBM computer programmer who founded the classifieds website Craigslist.
Sex and the city: And take a bow, Andrew Mark Cuomo! The perpetual lech and largely disgraced former New York State governor – and future New York City mayor? – turns 67 today.
Give the grabby ex-gov – and former HUD assistant secretary/New York attorney general – your best at editor@innovateli.com, where the only things we grab are your news tips and calendar events (and never without your permission).
About our sponsor: Presberg Law P.C. is Long Island’s premier “IDA” and business law firm for businesses locating, relocating and expanding on Long Island. Founded in 1984, this multigenerational practice focuses on the purchase, sale, leasing and financing of commercial and industrial real estate, SBA and other loan transactions, construction projects and business sales and acquisitions.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Nurse aid: Adelphi University’s College of Nursing and Public Health has launched a new doctoral program in response to the growing national demand for mental-health services.
Welcome to the Doctor of Nursing Practice in Psychiatric-Mental Health program, an innovative effort to forge new mental-health leaders and address what Adelphi calls a “critical shortage of mental-health providers in healthcare systems nationwide.” Slated to kick off in the Fall 2025 semester, the program offers two points of entry: the BS to DNP Psychiatric-Mental Health NP Program, for bachelor’s degree-holders seeking national board certification as a psychiatric mental-health nurse practitioner, or the Advanced Standing DNP Psychiatric-Mental Health NP Program, for applicants who already hold a master’s degree in nursing and psychiatric mental-health nurse practitioner certification.
Both will provide learners with the knowledge and clinical expertise they’ll need to translate cutting-edge research into real-world mental-health practice, according to the Garden City-based university. “There is a significant need to prepare advanced nurse practitioners at the doctoral level as advocates, leaders and scholars in the field of psychiatric and mental-health nursing,” noted College of Nursing and Public Health Professor and Dean Deborah Hunt. “Our new DNP program addresses this need.”
J. Peter Gergen: Cohesive competitors.
Gold standard: A team of budding Stony Brook University geneticists has shined in a prestigious international biotech competition – once again.
A squad of three juniors, four sophomores and eight freshmen (majoring in biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, information systems and even political science) captured a gold medal at the International Genetically Engineered Machine Giant Jamboree, a brainy synthetic-biology expo held in late October in Paris. The competition attracted 438 teams from nearly three-dozen countries, all designing, building and testing competition-specific projects – including the SBU squad’s efforts to develop a less invasive, more cost-effective way to diagnose B-cell lymphoma.
Their solution – which earned one of 16 gold medals awarded to college-based teams, marking the third gold medal SBU has earned in iGEM competition – was to equip the E. coli bacteria with a “genetically engineered gene circuit” capable of detecting microRNAs as lymphoma biomarkers. “Stony Brook’s participation in iGEM continues to have a profound impact on our students,” noted J. Peter Gergen, a SUNY distinguished service professor in the SBU College of Arts and Science’s Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology. “This year’s team was extremely cohesive.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Voiceover vixen: Bethpage Federal Credit Union has executed a brilliant advertising coup, recruiting Hollywood A-lister Eva Longoria as the narrator of its new women-focused marketing campaign.
Keeps on giving: What to get the biz-development team that has everything? Their own individual Innovate Long Island Newsletter subscriptions, of course – always easy, always free and always delivering the critical intel they need to succeed. Stuff them stockings!
ICYMI
A dozen years since Superstorm Sandy left Long Beach in a healthcare lurch, Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital continues to come through for the barrier island.
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 Massachusetts: Boston-based venture fund JFFVentures bolsters fast-growing startup that provides critical back-office support for solopreneurs and the self-employed.
From California: Sacramento-based LGBTQ+ brand platform Famm launches first-ever social- and business-networking app for LGBTQ+ professionals and business owners.
From New York City: E-commerce design/development platform Domaine introduces online studio aimed at accelerating growth for emerging and mid-market brands.
ON THE MOVE
Nishana Weerasooriya
+ Nishana Weerasooriya has been hired as of counsel at Cullen and Dykman in Uniondale. She previously served as deputy/head of legal research at Verite Research in Sri Lanka.
+ Christina Russo has joined Riverhead-based Twomey, Latham, Shea, Kelley, Dubin & Quartararo as an associate in the Elder Law, Estate Planning, Trust and Estate Administration Practice Group. She previously held the same position at Melville-based Goidel Law Group.
+ Samuel Aronson has been appointed to the Stony Brook-based Long Island Museum’s Board of Trustees. He is a retired physicist and former director of Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton.
+ Ronkonkoma-based Sasserath & Co. has announced the hiring of two new tax associates: Thomas Palladino, a recent graduate of Long Island University, and Marcio Rodesno, a recent graduate of SUNY-Old Westbury.
+ David Ali has been hired as a project manager at Greg D’Angelo Construction in Wainscott. He held the same position at Cardel Development in Bridgehampton.
+ Neftali Collazo, Suffolk County Community College associate dean of athletics and special events, has been selected as a fellow in the 2025 cohort of the SUNY Hispanic Leadership Institute.
+ Craig Booth has been promoted to president and CEO at Island Federal Credit Union in Hauppauge. He previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer.
+ Jad Sayage has joined Uniondale-based Forchelli Deegan Terrana’s Real Estate Practice Group. He was managing attorney at Rockville Centre-based Sayage Law.
+ John Armentano has been appointed to the Stony Brook-based Long Island Museum’s Board of Trustees. He is a partner in Farrell Fritz’s Hauppauge office.
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 Presberg Law). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Christmas Tree Edition)
Steep spruce: Start with $70,000 in transportation costs and start adding from there.
O, Tannenbaum: Real facts about real Christmas trees.
Oh, polyethylene: Real facts about fake Christmas trees.
A lot of green: From transportation costs to its 900-pound Swarovski star, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree doesn’t come cheap.
Family tree: Please continue supporting the fantastic firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Presberg Law, where generations of law experts come together to master your real estate and corporate transactions. Check them out.
