Studio city: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, and not just any Wednesday but the Wednesday when we proudly introduce Innovate Long Island’s newest sponsor, Drake Media Studios.
Drake it until you make it: She made her own successful talk show … now Donna Drake wants to help you make your mark.
As we roll out all-new Innovate Long Island features (and prepare to expand our advocacy-journalism enterprise to other innovation hotspots around the state), we’ll excitedly welcome several new, forward-thinking sponsors over the next few weeks. Today, we raise the curtain on the Melville-based television/streaming production studios – home of the globally syndicated talk show “The Donna Drake Show: Live It Up!” and a welcoming mecca of professional sound stages, advanced editing suites, shining event spaces and multifaceted talent, all standing by to launch your brand into the stratosphere.
We’re thrilled to welcome Drake Media to the family. Learn all about the studio’s many benefits below – and catch up with the rest of the bustling innovation economy with this handy-dandy midweek innovation review!
Honor, at a premium: Before we get to all the new and exciting stuff, a somber pause to salute National Hug a G.I. Day, which honors the service and sacrifice of the brave and noble U.S. military – particularly relevant today, as desperate, despotic “leaders” instigate and escalate yet another Middle Eastern war.
Today is also the World Day of Fight Against Sexual Exploitation, which raises awareness of the global human trafficking plague – 4 million new victims annually, largely women and children – and also throws a harsh spotlight on dubious military motives.
Mixed message: Also embracing conflict is the World Health Organization’s World Obesity Day, which reminds us that 1 billion-plus humans live (tenuously) with obesity – and directly contradicts America’s National Pound Cake Day and National Snack Day, both piling up the calories on March 4.
Mass. appeal: Also fat and giggly were the principals of the Massachusetts Bay Company, who received a royal charter from England’s King Charles I on this date in 1629 allowing them to establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Stella quarta decima fulgeat: Elsewhere in New England, Vermont became the 14th U.S. State to join the Union on March 4, 1791 – with the unofficial slogan “May the fourteenth star shine bright,” for those keeping score in Latin.
Deep-dish … potatoes? Other geographic anniversaries celebrated on this date include Chicago (incorporated as a city in 1837) and Idaho (created as a territory in 1863).
“Swan” songs: “Swan Lake” is Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s most-revered ballet — and that’s saying something, of the dude who also created “The Nutcracker” and “The Sleeping Beauty.”
Fowl play: From the shores of Lake Michigan (and Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s largest body of water) to “Swan Lake,” Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s timeless ballet, which premiered at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre 149 years ago today.
War games: And it was exactly 100 years later (March 4, 1977) when the Cray-1 – the world’s first supercomputer, created by Cray Research of Wisconsin – was shipped to Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico for a trial run.
The mighty machine – weighing around 5.5 tons, boasting unprecedented calculation speed and requiring its own electrical substation – was used primarily to simulate nuclear detonations, making it a crucial Cold War component.
Well-seasoned: Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, music teacher and Roman Catholic priest Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) – who overcame chronic asthma to become an unrivaled Baroque impresario and undisputed concerto master – would be 348 years old today.
Catherine O’Hara: Gone, never forgotten.
Also born on March 4 were American entrepreneur Charles Rudolph Walgreen (1873-1939), who forever changed the way pharmacies operate when he founded the Walgreens chain; Norwegian American football player and coach Knute Rockne (1888-1931), a University of Notre Dame legend; American chemist Margaret Foster (1895-1970), the first woman accepted into the U.S. Geological Survey and a key contributor to the Manhattan Project; American businessman Richard DeVos (1926-2018), who co-founded direct-sales giant Amway; and recently departed Canadian American actress, comedian and screenwriter Catherine O’Hara (1954-2026), a skilled improviser and beloved performer whose career spanned five decades.
Insta-success: And take a bow, Michel Krieger! The Brazilian software engineer, entrepreneur and philanthropist – who achieved fame and fortune as co-founder of Instagram, leveraged it into various philanthropic efforts and is now part of the “Labs” team at hot-button artificial-intelligence pioneer Anthropic – turns 40 today.
Wish the Silicon Valley standout well at editor@innovateli.com, where we always swipe up your news tips (the more deets the better) and we think your calendar events are lit (especially because they overcome our FOMO) … and FWIW, we CSL at all this Instagram shorthand (IYKYK).
About our sponsor: Located just a stone’s throw from New York City, Drake Media Studios is Long Island’s premier destination for professional brand messaging, bright-light corporate events and world-class television and streaming productions. Featuring state-of-the-art equipment, talented staffers and 8,200 square feet of sound stages, editing suites and support spaces, DMS is one of the most welcoming video/film production facilities in the nation – and we can’t wait to share your story! Learn more here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
The price is … legal: So say the federal courts, which have upheld Albany’s “congestion pricing” plan.
Congestion decision: From the Good News/Bad News department comes a huge legal win for New York State’s congestion-pricing toll plan – and another stinging legal defeat for President Donald Trump.
A federal judge in Manhattan ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration’s efforts to stop New York’s Central Business District Tolling Program – Albany’s attempt to reduce Manhattan traffic and vehicular emissions while simultaneously raising billions of dollars for mass-transit improvements – “arbitrary, capricious … and not in accordance with the law.” In February, Trump abruptly announced he was “killing” congestion pricing, which was voted into law by state lawmakers in 2019 and received federal authorization via the Biden administration in December 2024.
Some have labeled the plan – through which passenger vehicles entering downtown Manhattan’s Congestion Relief Zone are charged $9 per day during peak hours (5 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekends) and $2.25 per day when entering during non-peak hours – a “direct attack” on Long Island commuters. But Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday extolled both the strategy and the federal court’s decision, calling congestion pricing “a once-in-a-lifetime success story” that has “reduced gridlock” and “unlocked critical funding for mass-transit upgrades.”
Agree to degree: It’s been a busy Winter at Farmingdale State College, which has created two new degree programs with significant upsides for critical 21st Century industries.
The college announced Feb. 10 that it’s rolling out a new Bachelor of Science program in Applied Physics, designed to prepare students to apply advanced physical-science concepts to careers in emerging high-tech industries – “a powerful bridge between scientific discovery, technological innovation and practical application,” according to Professor Lloyd Makarowitz, chairman of Farmingdale State’s Department of Physics. The college followed that up Feb. 26 with the introduction of a new Master of Science program in Construction Management, designed to ready learners for leadership roles in the planning, development and execution of modern construction projects.
Like the Applied Physics bachelor’s program, the new master’s-level program is designed to create “industry leaders prepared to manage complex projects,” according to Dean Kenneth Lee of Farmingdale State’s Pasternack School of Engineering Technology. “Driven by ongoing investment in infrastructure, sustainable development, housing and commercial projects, the demand for leaders in the construction sector remains strong,” Lee noted. “Our new Master of Science in Construction Management was designed to fuel the workforce.”
TOP OF THE SITE
The road to recovery: With a statewide nursing shortage hampering healthcare, a $1 million SUNY fund will create new nursing-education pathways between SUNY Old Westbury and Brooklyn’s SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University.
Put your hands together: Another round of applause, please, for Drake Media Studios and all the innovative sponsors who keep our website content and all these wonderful newsletters (including our subscriber-only Monday Calendar Newsletters) totally free. Remember, the more subscribers we get, the happier those sponsors will be – and the more free content we can send your way. So stop clapping long enough to make sure your partners, your clients and your entire innovation team are in the loop.
VOICES
The trusty and transformative Voices column returns this Friday with all-new actionable intelligence straight from the innovation economy’s front lines. While you’re waiting, catch up on some brilliant observations you might have missed – hundreds of expertly conceived, well-sourced and brilliantly written lessons (covering law, media, healthcare, technology, environmental sciences and other business-critical sectors) are standing by right now in the amazing Voices Library.
STUFF WE’RE READING
For Pete’s sake: These annoying reporters and their irritating questions about Iran are making the “secretary of war” very cranky. Deadline digs.
Says who: College students and their professors are at odds over the rules governing artificial-intelligence use. NPR negotiates.
That smarts: Are smartglasses a productivity dream come true – or a workplace nightmare? Forbes focuses.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Inhouse, a California-based artificial intelligence-powered automation and compliance platform for law firms, raised $5 million in Seed funding led by Run Ventures, Royal Street Ventures, Switch and Brian Liu.
+ Ease Health, a New York City-based, AI-native customer-relationship management and electronic health records platform, raised $41 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz.
+ Plurio, a California-based digital advertising optimization platform, raised $3.5 million in funding led by Altair, DVC, Yellow Rocks, Finom co-founder Kos Stiskin and ManyChat co-founder Mike Yan.
+ Multitude Insights, a Massachusetts-based public safety technology company focused on law enforcement intelligence infrastructure, raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Primary Venture Partners, with participation from Commonweal Ventures, Counterview Capital, VSC Ventures, NEC Orchestrating Future Fund, Alumni Ventures, E62 Ventures and Craig Abod of Carahsoft Technology.
+ Flux, a California-based, AI-powered platform for hardware design, raised $27 million in Series B funding led by 8VC, with participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures and Outsiders Fund.
+ Alveus Therapeutics, a Pennsylvania-based clinical-stage biotech focused on weight-loss medications, raised $37 million in extended Series A funding led by Jeito Capital and Novo Holdings, joining original Series A investors New Rhein Healthcare Investors, Andera Partners, Omega Funds, Sanofi Capital, Kurma Partners and Avego BioScience Capital.
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 Donna Drake). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (This Means War Edition)
Death from above: The satellite-guided kamikaze LUCAS drones have Russian military experts worried.
All for naught: Oil prices will rise, American allies will bail and the next Iranian leader might actually be worse, according to Trump.
Comrades concerned: America’s new attack drones are worrying Russian military bloggers.
No bueno: Why Spain wants no part of the “unjustified and dangerous” Iranian war.
Give peace a chance: Please continue supporting the inventive influencers that support Innovate Long Island, including Drake Media Studios, where peace and positivity pulsate – and your brand locks and loads its best fighting chance. Check them out.
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