Abracadabra: Amazing! With the wave of a wand (and plenty of hard work), you’ve mystically ported to the precipice of another well-earned weekend.
Well done, proud prestidigitator – but before we make that presto-chango, we’ve got one more workday to bedazzle. Here’s an enchanting innovation-week-in-review to help you focus your hocus pocus … open sesame!
Dragon’s lair: They’re not so bad, once you get to know them.
Nothing to it: We begin our Jan. 16 magical mystery tour with a quiet salute to National Nothing Day – an observation of no particular vocation, no niche hobby, no fringe foodstuffs, just the peaceful serenity of nothing at all.
Better than nothing: As this contradicts the purpose (and fun) of listing quirky “holidays,” we’d also like to shout out Book Publishers Day (a national hug for the hardworking producers of knowledge and entertainment), Appreciate a Dragon Day (tipping the scales in favor of the oft-villainous mythical beasts), International Hot and Spicy Food Day (celebrating peppery culinary adventures) and National Fig Newton Day (topping things off with the love ’em or hate ’em circa-19th Century fig rolls).
For the record, we love ’em.
When in Rome: Also not nothing is the ancient Roman Empire, which became a thing on (or about) this date in 27 B.C., when the Roman Senate first bestowed the title “Augustus” on Gaius Octavius Thurinus.
When in Madrid: Over in Spain, “El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha” – part one of author Miguel de Cervantes’ heroic masterpiece, known simply and best as “Don Quixote” – was first published on Jan. 16, 1605, marking the debut of the modern novel.
When in British Columbia, eh: That’s where we find inventor Theodore Witte, the Canadian innovator who earned a U.S. patent on this date in 1894 for his groundbreaking (actually, ground-sealing) caulking gun.
Quick change: The last son of Krypton leapt from comic books to newspapers in a single bound.
When in Metropolis: Here in the States, the original syndicated “Superman” comic strip first flew off the pages of hundreds of nationwide newspapers 87 years ago today, nine months after the Man of Steel debuted in Action Comics.
When in spaaaaace: And it was Jan. 16, 2016, when NASA Commander Scott Kelly shared photographs of the “first flower grown in space” – an orange zinnia bloom brightening the whitewashed innards of the International Space Station.
The healthy pedals resulted from the first flowering-crop experiment conducted using the ISS’s Vegetable Production System, known affectionately as Veggie.
Gorilla glue: American primatologist and conservationist Dian Fossey (1932-1985) – who fought fearlessly (and obsessively) to transform human understanding of gorillas, leading to her brutal (and still unsolved) murder – would be 94 years old today.
Hang on to her love: Sade continues to set the tone for lovers in the mood.
Also born on Jan. 16 were American engineer Frank Zamboni Jr. (1901-1988), who achieved ice-resurfacing immortality; French industrialist André Jules Michelin (1853-1931), who teamed with brother Édouard to revolutionize the automotive tire industry; American businessman Carl Karcher (1917-2008), who was the son of Leo Karcher and the father of Jerome Karcher but nonetheless founded the Carl’s Jr. hamburger chain; American intellectual and writer Susan Sontag (1933-2004), an occasional novelist and unrivaled essayist; and American filmmaker, composer and actor John Carpenter (born 1948), master of low-budget horror.
Sweetest taboo: And take a bow, Helen Folasade Adu! The Nigerian-born British contemporary-music icon – the sexy, silky Grammy-winner known best as Sade – turns 67 today.
Give the Smooth Operator your best at editor@innovateli.com, where Nothing Can Come Between Us, whether or not you share news tips and calendar events (though we feel No Ordinary Love when you do).
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Connecting flight: A Long Island-based charter-jet juggernaut is under new management – with a familiar flight crew at the controls.
Farmingdale-based Talon Air – previously an affiliate of Malta-based multinational VistaJet, itself a subsidiary of Dubai-based corporate-aviation kingpin Vista Global – changed hands in a private transaction that closed Jan. 2. The new ownership group is led by longtime CEO James Chitty and equally long-term COO Nicholas Piazza, who jointly took the stick of the charter and fleet-management company in 2017.
Terms were undisclosed, though Talon Air did highlight an “aviation-focused investment group” as essential to closing the deal for the Republic Airport-headquartered FAA Part 135 charter operator, which manages a fleet of more than three dozen independently owned midsized, super-midsized and heavy jets. “This is an exciting new chapter for our airplane owners as well as our dedicated team of employees,” Chitty noted. “By aligning ownership with leadership, Talon Air will continue to build upon the rapid growth in managed aircraft and charter hours achieved in 2025 by investing in new growth opportunities.”
Say it again: As usual, the ambitious State of the State address was filled with lofty socioeconomic goals.
Stating our case: From the Been There/Done That Department comes Gov. Kathy Hochul’s fifth State of the State Address – a self-congratulatory checklist of progressive social programs, huge dollar signs and absolutely nothing you haven’t heard before.
Please understand: We admire the social advances Albany has made in recent years and applaud the sky-high 2026 State of the State agenda, backbone of the $260 billion-ish Fiscal Year 2027 Executive Budget proposal Hochul will drop this month (the FY2026 budget expires in March). And we’re OK with the state’s primary politician taking a victory lap around her legislative accomplishments; on her watch, New York has become safer, environmentally sounder and way smarter on economic development, and this year’s 200-plus programmatic proposals – including new childcare subsidies, landmark reforms to speed up new-housing construction and an overarching “affordability strategy” to reduce energy and insurance costs – promise further evolutions.
But while every U.S. state laboriously plans a yearly budget/legislative checklist, the reading of the Empire State’s annual ambition agenda – a quasi-campaigning exercise mastered by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Hochul’s mentor – has become more regal spectacle than responsible statehood (particularly in gubernatorial campaign years like this one). Bottom line: Many promises made in past State of the States have been kept, many have not. Stay tuned.
TOP OF THE SITE
Nuclear stress test: A national radio special produced by an ambitious Stony Brook University pro-environment platform dives deep into the role nuclear power can (and must) play in America’s energy mix.
What happened? We’re still cracking up over that bit in the latest subscriber-only Monday Calendar Newsletter, about the … wait, what? You didn’t see the latest Monday Calendar Newsletter? Because you’re not a subscriber? Never let that happen again!
ICYMI
Federal judges are knocking back the Trump Administration’s executive orders hamstringing federal- and state-approved clean-energy programs – including the development of offshore wind farms, great news for Long 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 New York City: Global-market research master Radius Insights launches dedicated technology practice to deliver customer insights specifically for tech brands.
From Colorado: Lafayette-based cannabinoid connoisseur Extract Labs wades into functional cannabis beverages with hemp-derived THC-plus-CBD drink line.
From New York City: Home-fragrance forerunner Blueme Fragrance expands core lineup, promotes relaxation and “smells the Zen” with relaxation-centered Sleep scent.
ON THE MOVE
Frederick Lowery
+ Frederick Lowery has been appointed CEO of Henry Schein Inc. in Melville, effective March 2. The company’s fourth overall CEO and first African American CEO was most recently head of laboratory products and bioproduction for Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific.
+ Uniondale-based Sahn Ward Braff Coschignano has announced the promotion of two new partners:
- Christopher DeNicola is a member of the New York City and Nassau County bar associations. He concentrates his practice on NYC zoning and land-use planning.
- Samuel Bifulco is a member of the American, New York State and Suffolk County bar associations. He concentrates his practice on zoning and land-use planning, primarily in Suffolk municipalities.
+ Kara Cannon has been appointed executive director of the Shoreham-based Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe. She is the former CEO of Enzo Biochem.
+ The Melville-based Long Island Builders Institute has announced a new slate of officers:
- Jonathan Weiss has been elected president of the Board of Directors. He is a principal and president of construction at B2K Development in Jericho.
- Anthony Bartone has been elected chairman of the Board of Directors. He is managing partner at Terwilliger & Bartone Properties in Farmingdale.
- Ken Abrami has been elected vice president of the Board of Directors. He is executive vice president of construction at TRITEC Real Estate Co. in Ronkonkoma.
- Devin Kulka has been elected treasurer of the Board of Directors. He is chief executive officer of the Kulka Group in Hauppauge.
+ Gregory Kalnitsky has been appointed corporation counsel of the City of Long Beach. He is a former partner in the Real Estate, Municipal, IDA and Land Use & Zoning practice groups at Uniondale-based Forchelli Deegan Terrana.
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 New York Tech). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (The Fix Is In Edition)
Bad play: The 1919 White Sox (dramatized in the 1988 drama “Eight Men Out”) are the poster children of sports cheaters.
Kangaroo courts: The latest point-shaving scandal is a big problem for the NCAA.
Regretful replay: This is hardly the first time organized cheating has rocked college hoops.
You betcha: From the infamous Black Sox to Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, ranking sports’ biggest betting scandals.
Playing it straight: Put your money on the innovative institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including the New York Institute of Technology, which stays ahead of the curve through strong academics, unwavering social justice and other on-the-level ingenuity. Check them out.
