Identify for retina scan: Yeah, never gonna look at Captain Kirk’s retina scan the same way again.
Eye eye, captain: Retinas are very important, whether you’re covering the innovation economy or accessing the Genesis plans.
Not sure how they deal with detached retinas in the 23rd Century, dear readers, but here in the 21st, we get a vitrectomy – innovative, comprehensive and a real pain in the macula, recovery-wise.
Current post-op procedures (and basic comfort factors) dramatically limit screen time, so today’s newsletter is a bit shorter than usual – and it will be Innovate Long Island’s last edition of 2025. We’re gonna give this puppy some proper rest and come back strong in 2026.
In fact, stronger than ever: new sponsors, new Innovate Long Island features, new Innovate News Service websites covering other innovation hotspots around the state (and their unique connections to Nassau and Suffolk) – plus the thrice-weekly newsletters you know and love, with bells and whistles galore.
Sincerest apologies to our sponsors and readers and anyone else who might care about all these missing newsletters. (Believe me when I say, our No. 1 New Year’s resolution is creating a situation where sick days and vacations don’t disrupt our entire corporate continuum.)
Please enjoy this truncated year-end edition – still plenty of innovation in here! – and have a safe, happy and joyous holiday season. We’ll be back with your regularly scheduled Calendar Newsletter on Jan. 5.
For now, it’s Dec. 19 – and we’ve got some catch-up learning to do!
About our sponsor: Burman Real Estate (BRE) is poised to revitalize key Long Island communities with thoughtful, relevant redevelopment projects. Current projects include Hicksville’s The Shops on Broadway, a reimagined shopping destination featuring a restaurant row with rooftop and central plaza event spaces; Mineola Downtown, a transit-oriented development; and a nine-story residential tower with direct access to the Mineola LIRR station.
BUT FIRST, THIS (AND THIS AND THIS)
While we’ve been lollygagging about, regional innovators have finished the year strong, including…
Father (about) time: Hard to believe Kevin Tracey, the “Father of Bioelectronic Medicine,” wasn’t already a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.
Invention distinction: The highest professional distinction for inventors has been awarded to one of Long Island’s all-time greatest innovators.
Kevin Tracey, president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors as part of its 2025 Class. The prestigious honor acknowledges leading engineers, progressive teachers and bench scientists who demonstrate a spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating inventions spanning all fields of discovery – in Tracey’s case, discovering the inflammatory reflex (explaining how the brain and body communicate to control immune responses) and pioneering the burgeoning field of bioelectronic medicine.
By combining neuroscience, immunology and engineering on a quest to develop innovative, technology-based therapies for a host of diseases and dysfunctions, the “Father of Bioelectronic Medicine” earned the NAI honors – but insists he didn’t do it alone. “This distinction is an affirmation of the collective effort and dedication of researchers worldwide and within the Feinstein Institutes, all of whom are driven by the commitment to produce knowledge to cure disease,” Tracey noted.
Hip to be square: The $33 million Town Square project will connect Main Street to the Riverhead riverfront.
(River)headwaters: Ground has broken on the Town of Riverhead’s $33 million Town Square development – the largest project funded so far through the Riverhead Downtown Revitalization Initiative.
The ceremonial Dec. 12 start will ultimately create green spaces, a new amphitheater, a public playground, waterfront walkways, a boutique hotel and mixed-use commercial spaces fronted by East Main Street. Funded primarily by a $24 million award from the federal RAISE program, the project is also backed by a $4.2 million stipend from the Riverhead DRI (which won a $10 million state downtown-revitalization award in 2021), $3.2 million from the Empire State Development Corp. and $500,000 from the New York State Historic Preservation Office, as well as $400,000-plus in Suffolk County contributions.
Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard said Riverhead Town Square would become “the economic, social and cultural epicenter that our downtown desperately needed” by combining natural beauty, community spirit and main street economics. “This project represents the best of what we can achieve when government, community and private partners collaborate toward a shared goal,” the supervisor added.
Only natural: Broad Cove Preserve will be spared from development for the foreseeable future.
Well preserved: The Peconic Land Trust’s 100-acre Broad Cove Preserve has been permanently protected from development.
A conservation easement announced Thursday by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation covers the 99.4-acre Aquebogue preserve, a former duck farm (now reverting to its natural state) bounded by Flanders Bay to the south, Hubbard Avenue and the Long Island Rail Road to the north and a residential neighborhood to the east. A new parking area and a network of trails constructed by the Peconic Land Trust are now open to the public, with designated hunting spots available during hunting season.
Governor Kathy Hochul trumpeted the permanent development ban as an effort to conserve natural habitats, promote climate resilience and safeguard Long Island’s natural resources. “Increasing access to recreational spaces and rare, undeveloped waterfront is the kind of forward-looking investment that keeps Long Island healthy and thriving,” the governor said in a statement. “This is an incredible opportunity to leave a lasting legacy for New Yorkers along the Peconic Estuary.”
Sykes you up: Wanna crack them up like Wanda? Stony Brook Southampton can help.
Laugh it up: The next Sebastian Maniscalco or Wanda Sykes might be boning up this winter at Stony Brook University’s Southampton campus.
Starting in January, Stony Brook Southampton will host Think You’re Funny?, a six-week comedy course giving a dozen wannabe stand-up comics a chance to grow under a pro – seasoned comedian Paul Anthony, who will share his knowledge of material preparation and stage performance. Lessons will explore the nuances of turning personal experience into new material, identifying the performer’s “authentic voice,” strengthening timing and delivery and otherwise building confidence in public-speaking scenarios.
The evening-hours course, which concludes with an all-hands Feb. 18 showcase at Stony Brook Southampton’s Duke Lecture Hall, leans heavily into the eastern campus’ cultural dedication – and into a performance art with significant professional synergies, according to Stony Brook Southampton Executive Director and Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Wendy Pearson. “Comedy is one of the most powerful tools for building confidence, sharpening storytelling and becoming more comfortable speaking in front of an audience,” Pearson noted. “This course is for anyone who wants to communicate more effectively.”
NOT TO MENTION…
- The Westbury Water District is getting $10.8 million to improve 1,4-Dioxane treatment in a municipal well – part of $26 million-plus in state grants flowing into water-infrastructure projects across Long Island.
- The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame is planning a two-day Billy Joel Symposium for June – and inviting fans, scholars, critics, musicians, and students to submit individual papers for consideration.
- Promoting faculty collaboration and new research opportunities, a new Teaching, Research and Innovation Center for Excellence has risen at SUNY Old Westbury.
- A Farmingdale State College Police officer and a Stony Brook University Police inspector are among the winners of the 2025 SUNY University Police Awards, honoring devotion, bravery and commitment to campus safety.
- Supported by a five-year, $3.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Stony Brook Medicine will lead a multistate mental-health program designed to prevent post-traumatic stress disorder in first responders.
TOP OF THE SITE
Eyes wide open: After this latest adventure, your humble newsletter scribe has seen the light – even great innovations sometimes extract a significant human toll.
More human than human: Voices Media Anchor David Chauvin escapes 2025 – the year artificial intelligence changed everything – and strategizes a future where human creatives keep it real.
And they fit in most conventional stockings: The gift that keeps on giving! Keep your entire innovation team a step ahead in 2026 – Innovate Long Island newsletter subscriptions are always easy, always free!
ON THE MOVE
Jerry Balentine
+ Jerry Balentine has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Melville-based Long Island Association. He is president and chief executive officer of the Old Westbury- and New York City-based New York Institute of Technology.
+ New York- and Long Island-based Moritt Hock & Hamroff has welcomed two new associates to its Garden City office:
- Kristina Sgambati concentrates on complex commercial litigation. She was an associate at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in New York City.
- Joseph Famulari II concentrates on commercial and real estate litigation. He was an associate at Friedman Vartolo in New York City.
+ Melville-based H2M architects + engineers has announced three new hires:
- Jaden Keener has been hired as a staff engineer. She is a recent graduate of Binghamton University.
- Michael Miller has been hired as a staff engineer. He is a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina.
- Jonathan Schiede has been hired as a staff engineer. He is a recent graduate of Rowan University.
+ Brian Schlosser has been appointed to the Nassau County Bar Association Lawyer Assistance Committee. He is a member of the Medical Malpractice Defense, General Liability and Complex Torts & Product Liability practice groups at Uniondale-based Rivkin Radler.
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 – on Long Island, and soon, across New York State (just ask Burman RE). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (HO-HO-HO EDITION)
Pick a card, any card: Tacky? Terrific? Debate rages.
Not because of “A Christmas Story”: How Chinese food became a legit Christmas dinner alternative.
E-shopping (as in “express”): Ninety last-minute gifts guaranteed to arrive by Christmas.
Show your cards: An etiquette expert settles it – are gift cards lazy or loving?
Holiday road: As the New Year dawns, please continue supporting the fantastic firms that support Innovate Long Island – including Burman RE, which is paving the way toward Long Island’s best socioeconomic destiny with smart and sustainable development. Check them out … and to all, a good night.
