Please keep your hands and feet inside the economy at all times: Hold on tight, dear readers … another rollercoaster workweek for the Long Island innovation economy (and teetering global markets) is nearing its exciting end!
Hopefully, you’re one of the world’s richest people, who made a combined $304 billion after President Trump suddenly reversed his batshit tariff plan on Wednesday (the largest one-day gain in the history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index). If not, well, you better get to work … here’s a wry week-in-innovation review to get you started (and a snappy tune to remind you that rollercoasters aren’t always bad – ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Ohio Players!)
How do you fondue?: There’s really no wrong way, especially on National Fondue Day.
Neurological knowledge: Today is April 11 and we open with a nod to World Parkinson’s Day, a global spotlight on education and awareness related to the nefarious neurological disease. (Why today? Read on.)
Speaking of snappy tunes, today is also National Barbershop Quartet Day (saluting harmonic foursomes that originally gained popularity in the 1930s) and National Eight Track Tape Day (honoring a short-lived magnetic-tape sound-recording technology that, predictably, featured eight parallel tracks).
We’ll have some of that: Enjoy your music with a fine meal – National Cheese Fondue Day (melting hearts with a caquelon and your cheese of choice), National Poutine Day (celebrating the saucy French Canadian favorite) and National Ranch Water Day (washing it all down with Texas’ version of a skinny margarita) all grace our tables on April 11.
Island hopping: Also bringing an international flair was Ellis Island, which was set on a historic course toward becoming a major immigration station on this date in 1890, when President Benjamin Harrison inked a Congressional resolution ordering the removal of U.S. Navy munitions and a $75,000 facilities overhaul.
General finishes: Other U.S. Presidents doing impressive things on this date include President Harry Truman, who canned outspoken (and popular) Gen. Douglas MacArthur on April 11, 1951, relieving the future airport namesake of command of U.S. forces in Korea.
Liberty Lyndon: Not to mention President Lyndon Johnson, who signed the landmark U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1968 into law 57 years ago today (and offered his full-throated support for its progressive platform).
Problems: Liftoff was picturesque, but things went south pretty quickly for Apollo 13.
Mission critical: President Richard Nixon was in office on April 11, 1970, when NASA’s well-documented “successful failure” – the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission – blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center.
On the fly: And an unqualified NASA success was recorded on this date in 1984, when the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger completed repairs on the malfunctioning Solar Max astronomy satellite.
The orbital house call marked the first time a satellite was repaired in space.
“Popgun” Parkinson: English surgeon, apothecary, geologist, paleontologist and political activist James Parkinson (1755-1824) – who was the first to describe the neuromuscular disease that would later bear his name, and may have been involved in a plot to murder King George III – would be 270 years old today.
Have Percy: Julian, a National Inventors Hall of Fame inductee, earned more than 130 U.S. patents during his remarkable career.
Also born on April 11 were American chemist Percy Julian (1899-1975), a chemical-synthesist pioneer and arguably the most famous African American chemist in U.S. history; American astronomer Donald Menzel (1901-1976), among the first (and most influential) theoretical astrophysicists (and a key debunker of UFO mythology); Japanese industrialist Masaru Ibuka (1908-1998), the master electronics innovator who co-founded the Sony Corp.; American politician and lawyer Hugh Carey (1919-2011), a U.S. Army combat veteran elected to seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and two terms as New York State governor; and American human rights advocate Ethel Skakel Kennedy (1928-2024), a social justice champion who was the widow of assassinated U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and mother of conspiracy theorist/anti-vaccine activist/U.S. Secretary of Health RFK Jr.
Part of The Conversation: And take a bow, Ellen Goodman! The retired American political columnist – a 1980 Pulitzer Prize-winner, speaking-engagement drawing card and director of The Conversation Project, a circa-2010 nonprofit focused on end-of-life wishes, which she founded after caring for her elderly mother – turns 84 today.
Give the outspoken columnist/caregiver your best at editor@innovateli.com, where our only wish is to receive more news tips – and we always take great care with your calendar events.
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 multi-generational 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
Dammit, gym!: Don’t get frustrated … there are plenty of fitness centers to go around.
Let’s get physical: With swimsuit season rapidly approaching, good news from our friends over at customer data platform and marketing-automation ace Cinch Solutions: There are plenty of gyms to be found around New York State.
Citing steady fitness-industry growth (belying a worsening national obesity problem), Cinch has counted up fitness centers across all U.S. States and calculated that New York boasts a higher-than-average per-capita concentration of gyms. With 2,655 on the books, the Empire State boasts roughly 13.5 gyms per 100,000 residents, which is actually below the Northeast Region average (15.1 per 100,000) but slightly better than the national average (13.2).
The report, which leverages U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, places New York well short of national leader Montana (19.7 gyms per 100,000 residents) and behind Northeast states Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island (each offers more than 18 per capita), but way ahead of Hawaii, Michigan and West Virginia (each offers fewer than nine). However, New York’s above-average prevalence of workout facilities is paying off, with Cinch estimating that 83.6 percent of adult New Yorkers are in generally good health – better than the national average of 82.1 percent.
Let’s get animal: A Long Island-based State senator is leading New York’s charge toward stronger animal protections.
State Sen. Monica Martinez (D-Hauppauge) is sponsoring a legislative package designed to safeguard the wellbeing of domesticated animals, including two bills recently passed by her fellow senators, a critical step toward becoming law. Senate Bill S197 – also known as Tucker’s Law, originally introduced in 2020 following the arrest of a Long Island man charged with the beating deaths of two dogs and heinous injuries to a third – would grant judges the discretion to impose consecutive sentences when an individual is convicted on multiple counts of aggravated cruelty to animals; Senate Bill S252 expands the definitions of “wild animals” and “exotic animals” and adds new examples of both to New York’s non-companion animals list.
The two Senate-approved bills are part of a seven-bill package sponsored by the 4th District Democrat, including proposed laws to strengthen animal-abandonment penalties and to fund shelters and organizations that provide emergency housing for domestic violence victims and their companion animals. “Humanity’s laws have not always kept pace with the cruelty some individuals inflict on animals,” Martinez noted. “The package of bills passed … raises our standard of accountability toward our fellow beings.”
TOP OF THE SITE
You booze, you lose? According to the latest Mount Sinai South Nassau Truth in Medicine Poll, a majority of Long Island residents will consider drinking less alcohol based on a cancer warning from the former U.S. surgeon general.
Good for you: Brimming with humor, intelligence and critical scheduling information, Innovate Long Island’s Monday Calendar Newsletter is for subscribers only. Not a subscriber? Well, here’s even more good news: Always easy, always free.
ICYMI
Long Island’s first triple-organ transplantation – a simultaneous heart, kidney and liver swap – was a success, with a nod to the Herculean efforts of two dozen Northwell Health surgeons and nurses.
Something to say? Welcome to The Entrepreneur’s Edge, Innovate Long Island’s new promoted-content news feature platform – a direct link from you to our innovation-focused audience. Progressive product to promote? Singular service to sell? Sociopolitical position to push? Shine a bright light on the big picture, the little details and everything in between with The Entrepreneur’s Edge. Living on the edge.
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: San Francisco-based talent trendsetter Skillfully helps higher-ed and workforce-development institutions integrate new skills-based protocols.
From Georgia: Atlanta-based graphics processing/virtual server/cloud solutions spearhead Liquid Web expands domain with its first dedicated gaming servers.
From New York City: Healthcare-claims tech trailblazer Red Sky Health helps recover lost revenues with provider-friendly, artificial intelligence-powered software solution.
ON THE MOVE
Keith Frain
+ Keith Frain has been promoted to associate executive director at Maryhaven in Port Jefferson Station. He was senior director of program services, day habilitation and community residential services.
+ Frank Dowling has been elected assistant treasurer of the Medical Society of the State of New York. They are a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the Stony Brook University School of Medicine.
+ Bernadette Reilly has been elected assistant secretary of the Medical Society of the State of New York. She is a professor of family medicine at the New York Institute of Technology’s College of Osteopathic Medicine and director of New York Tech’s Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome/Hypermobility Treatment Center.
+ Hofstra University has announced two senior leadership appointments:
- Timothy Doyle has been named senior vice president for financial affairs and treasurer, effective June 2. He is currently senior vice president for finance and administration at the University of Scranton.
- Jean Peden Christodoulou has been promoted to vice president for administration, effective May 1. She has been senior advisor and chief of staff to Hofstra University President Susan Poser since 2022.
+ Nick Gaffney has been promoted to senior director of digital strategy at Hauppauge-based Austin Williams. He was director of digital strategy.
+ Kristen Hildebrant has been promoted to chief human resources officer at Arrow Security in Smithtown. She was senior vice president of human resources.
+ Jaclyn O’Hagan has been promoted to assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and accountability for the South Country Central School District. She was director of humanities for grades K-12.
+ Al Auad has been hired as senior director of digital development at Hauppauge-based Austin Williams. He was assistant IT director at Local 338 in Mineola.
+ Dana Reinecke has been hired as director of behavioral health services at the Developmental Disabilities Institute in Smithtown. She was assistant program director at Capella University in Minnesota.
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). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Earth-Shattering Edition)
It’s gonna blow!: Located just 81 miles from Anchorage, Alaska’s Mount Spurr is about to pop its top.
Rumbles: An earthquake swarm suggests an 11,000-foot Alaskan volcano is ready to erupt.
Bumbles: All the president’s people are struggling to rationalize the sudden tariff reversal.
Crumbles: Freshly baked cookies are just one of the items on the Interior Department secretary’s outrageous list of demands.
Humble: Please continue supporting the fantastic firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Presberg Law, where they don’t crow about decades of corporate land-use experience – they just go out and expertly execute, every time. Check them out.
