Way to go: Welcome to Friday, intrepid innovators! You’ve outlasted a blistering heatwave, conquered Summer 2025’s first official workweek and earned yourself another well-deserved weekend!
Away we go: Before we dive into your weekly innovation review, a quick reminder that Innovate Long Island is taking next week to clean our grills, display the Stars and Stripes and otherwise gear up for Independence Day, so no newsletters.
We’ll be back at you with your regularly scheduled Monday Calendar Newsletter on July 7. Please enjoy your BBQs and fireworks shows, always celebrate responsibly and never forget: We are one nation, built on a foundation of liberty and justice for all – and no divisive political ideology can ever trump that.
Roll with it: Grab lunch at your favorite food truck today.
Bin-go: Here on June 27, our innovative ideological issue begins with National Bingo Day, celebrating a game of chance that traces its roots to 16th Century Italy and, 500 years later, remains popular with young and old alike.
Grab your shades, too, because it’s also National Sunglasses Day, a bright idea that’s equal parts fashion and ocular protection.
Meals to go: Hope you’re hungry! Not only is it National Food Truck Day (a last-Friday-of-June homage to some of humanity’s most innovative culinary creators), but National Onion Day (peeling back the layers of the appealing vegetable), National Indian Pudding Day (celebrated annually on three different days, including today) and National Ice Cream Cake Day (as if you need the excuse) are all served on June 27.
Slow go: Are food trucks “fast food?” That’s debatable – (slightly) more clear was the New World’s first speed-limit law, which was enacted on this date in 1652 and decreed that wagons, carts and sleighs could not be operated “at a gallop” in the City of New Amsterdam (now New York City).
Gas and go: Traveling slightly faster than a gallop were the two DH-4B biplanes that executed the world’s first midair refueling over California on June 27, 1923.
Boldly go: Before there was “Star Trek” there was “Captain Video and his Video Rangers,” which blasted off on the DuMont Television Network 76 years ago today as the world’s first science-fiction television show.
Teller me more: The first automatic teller — known as a “Cashpoint” — got to work 58 years ago today.
Cash on the go: The automatic teller machine became a thing on this date in 1967, debuting at a Barclays branch in London – about two years before the first American ATM entered service in Rockville Centre.
Where’d it go? And it was June 27, 1978, when erasable ballpoint-pen ink was patented by three inventors employed by Japanese penmaker Pilot Corp.
The ink, considered a quantum leap over existing erasable inks of the day, was comprised of rubber, natural pigments, volatile and nonvolatile solvents, inorganic powders and several other ingredients.
Second sight: American author, activist and lecturer Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968) – who lost her sight and hearing to an unknown illness at 19 months old, but overcame those handicaps to become a leading advocate for people with disabilities – would be 145 years old today.
Well Dun: Paul Dunbar — who’d later become an internationally acclaimed poet — was also editor of his high school newspaper.
Also born on June 27 were Russian Canadian revolutionary, political activist and writer Emma Goldman (1869-1940), who championed everything from women’s rights and universal education to workers’ rights and anarchy; Canadian American zoologist Frank Lillie (1870-1947), who pioneered the science of embryology; American poet, novelist and short story writer Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), the son of emancipated slaves who became president of his high school’s literary society and published his first volume of poetry at age 16; American businessman, politician and philanthropist Henry Ross Perot (1930-2019), a super-successful tech-preneur and two-time candidate for U.S. President; and American screenwriter, director, producer and composer Jeffrey Jacob “J.J.” Abrams (born 1966), who was creative, clever and basically red hot before he ruined both “Star Trek” and “Star Wars.”
Designing woman: And take a bow, Vera Ellen Wang! The multifaceted American fashion designer – who’s created menswear, jewelry, fragrances, eyewear and home products, but is known best for her elegant wedding gowns and sophisticated haute couture – turns 76 today.
Give the creative force your best at editor@innovateli.com, where we always have designs on your news tips and calendar events.
About our sponsor: Farmingdale State College is the largest college of applied science and technology in the State University of New York system, with nearly 10,000 students and 46 degree programs focused on relevant high-demand careers. More than half of our students graduate debt-free and 82 percent are employed six months after graduation or enrolled in graduate school. Nearly 80 percent of FSC graduates stay and are working on Long Island six months after graduation. Learn more here.
POLL POSITION
Last chance for romance, dear readers! The 2025 Innovate Long Island Reader Survey ends tonight.
We know you love us … but help us count the ways! What features do you like most – our podcasts? The Debrief? The amazing Voices column? What new features would best support our pro-innovation economy advocacy-journalism mission? (For the record, some of the suggestions we’ve already received are flat-out brilliant!)
Have your say (and get in the running for one of three $50 Visa Gift Cards we’re sending to three lucky survey respondents). It’s 90 seconds of your time, but everything to us – and the polls close tonight! So … what do you really think?!?
BUT FIRST, THIS
Still responding: A two-decade examination of first responders to the 9/11 terrorist attacks has shed new light on their ongoing battle with post-traumatic stress disorder.
A study of nearly 13,000 World Trade Center responders, covering the 20-year period between July 2002 and December 2022, shows that PTSD symptoms have changed dramatically for many, and even increased in a small percentage of responders. The study – conducted by experts from Stony Brook University’s World Trade Center Health and Wellness Program and other SBU researchers – also suggests that long-term PTSD struggles can help predict physical and mental-health impairments before they occur, even years after the initial incident.
The data, including more than 81,000 clinical observations made over the past two decades, is laid out in a recent online article published by the multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal Nature Mental Health. Co-author Benjamin Luft, director of the WTC Health and Wellness Program and the Edmund D. Pellegrino Professor of Medicine in the Renaissance School of Medicine, called the findings “an important roadmap to the ongoing nature of PTSD in our WTC responders and potentially for others who have experienced mass trauma.”
Coming soon: Mather Hospital’s state-of-the-art Frey Family Emergency Department will begin receiving patients in the next few weeks.
In case of emergency: A Northwell Health hospital on Suffolk County’s North Shore will soon cut the ribbon on a new state-of-the-art Emergency Department.
Trumpeting “one of the most ambitious building projects in its history,” Port Jefferson-based Mather Hospital has introduced – but not yet opened – the $78 million Frey Family Emergency Department. The new, 29,000-square-foot department doubles the size of Mather’s previous ER and features a “split-flow” model that more efficiently routes patients to appropriate care points (and expedites admissions for patients with more serious conditions), while offering dedicated mental-health spaces, easy access to the hospital’s advanced-imaging facilities and “rapid conversion” public-health protocols designed to prevent the spread of airborne infections, among other high-tech amenities.
The American College of Emergency Physicians-accredited Gold Level 1 Geriatric Emergency Department – slated to begin serving local communities later this Summer – is one of several capital-expansion projects in various stages of development at the Port Jefferson hospital. “This project represents a major investment in the health and safety of our community,” noted Mather Hospital President Kevin McGeachy. “We’re designing this space to provide faster, more efficient care in a setting that prioritizes patient comfort, privacy and safety.”
TOP OF THE SITE
What’s your plan? Voices Healthcare Anchor Terry Lynam performs some exploratory surgery on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act – and diagnoses its potentially devastating cuts to national healthcare.
Center stage: Martha Stansbury, director of the Small Business Development Center at Stony Brook, joins “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast” to discuss regional entrepreneurism, startup support mechanisms and the critical importance of small businesses – the backbone of the Long Island innovation economy.
ICYMI
A leading veterinary laboratory, a forward-thinking property owner, a clever real estate broker … this is the recipe for ingenuity at Hicksville’s old Broadway Mall.
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 New York City: Omnichannel loyalty platform 99Minds breaks new ground for global e-commerce by offering Shopify merchants multicurrency gift card support.
From California: San Jose-based pet-tech titan Petlibro monitors homebound furballs with artificial intelligence-powered cameras that understand pet behaviors.
From New York City: Family-owned bean baron World of Coffee infuses Empire State quality, boldness and energy into new I Love New York blend.
ON THE MOVE
Carrie Meek Gallagher
+ Carrie Meek Gallagher has been appointed chief executive officer of the Long Island Power Authority, effective July 7. The former New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Long Island regional director, Suffolk County Water Authority chief sustainability officer and Suffolk County commissioner of environment and energy is currently director of the New York State Department of Public Service’s Long Island office.
+ Patrick Joseph has been hired as an IT operations manager at Melville-based H2M architects + engineers. He was head of IT operations at the United Arab Emirates Mission to the United Nations in Manhattan.
+ Maria Bohrer has been elected to the Melville-based Alzheimer Association’s Long Island Chapter Board of Directors. She was a reading specialist at Harding Avenue Elementary School in Lindenhurst.
+ Christopher Taglich has been hired as a senior project architect 1 at Melville-based H2M architects + engineers. He was an architect at DeGiaimo Group in Rockville Centre.
+ Bradley Kaufman has been hired as an associate attorney at Capetola & Divins in Williston Park. He was a senior attorney at The Ramcharitar Law Firm in Mineola.
+ Eric Banks has been hired as athletic director and chairman for physical education and health at Elmont Memorial High School. He was a physical education teacher at Westbury High School.
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 Farmingdale State). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Summer Vacation Edition)
(Not) seeing the sights: The U.S. tourism industry is set to lose $12 billion this year as Trump Administration policies tank international visitations.
Vacancies: International travelers continue to steer clear of the United States.
That’s cool: Summer vacationers are beating the heat at cold-climate hotspots.
Beach books: Some really good reads, as recommended by the staff of NPR.
Hot streak: Please continue supporting the innovative institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including Farmingdale State College, where creative programming, workforce development and exceptional student services never take a break. Check them out.
