No. 1051: SBU embraces E (belatedly), Big Medicine breaks up (maybe) and bad ballrooms bust (once again)

 

Change dot org: No, dear readers, we don’t have a petition for you to sign (though the action-oriented Change.org platform does have several trendy political topics to choose from, and we wholeheartedly believe “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” deserves a third season).

Instead, we reference the constantly changing Long Island weather – and caution against enjoying this week’s balmy, Summer-like conditions too much, with a late-season cold snap inbound (30s next week … for serious?!?).

Did you say something? Today is April 17 and change is in the air, all right, including the end of another busy workweek and the start of another well-earned weekend – but first, we must talk our way through a hectic Friday, including the International Day of Mastering Conversations That Matter (celebrating the arts of speaking well and listening closely) and National Blah, Blah, Blah Day (which sounds OK, but we really weren’t listening).

Also today comes
Unique syllable structure
Direct from Japan

Just a bit of National Haiku Day wordsmithery for you right there.

Wine, cheese and fish? Good luck with that: Also following its own rhythm – and lacking rhyme – is today’s holiday menu, starting with Malbec World Day (raising a glass to the bold Argentinian red with the deep, inky-fruit profile).

Pair that with National Cheeseball Day (less Cheetos, more a nut-rolled charcuterie centerpiece) and National Crawfish Day (part messy ritual, part briny, garlicy, steam-pot delight) – yeah, April 17 is all over the place, gastronomically.

World Literature: Also mixing it up was masterful English scribe Geoffrey Chaucer, who introduced his stories-within-a-story “Canterbury Tales” to King Richard II’s royal court on this date in 1397, blending romance, comedy, religious allegory and more.

Physical Chemistry: Also showing flexibility was neoprene (a.k.a. “DuPrene”), the first mass-produced synthetic rubber, invented on April 17, 1930, by a team of DuPont scientists.

Intro to Animation: Also mastering multiple story genres – from swashbuckling adventure to science fiction – was “Looney Tunes” and “Merrie Melodies” standout Daffy Duck, who debuted on this date in 1937 as second banana in the Warner Bros. cartoon short “Porky’s Duck Hunt.”

Auto Mechanics: Completely redefining its genre was the very first Ford Mustang – the famous 1964 1/2, a game-changing, musclebound roadster that hit showrooms 62 years ago today.

Advanced Aerodynamics: And it was April 17, 1964, when Ohio housewife Geraldine Mock did what no woman had done before, completing a solo aerial circumnavigation of the world.

The lifelong aeronautics enthusiast, who’d only begun actual flying lessons eight years earlier, faced many dangers (equipment failures, treacherous weather) on her one-month journey from and to Port Columbus Airport, which included stops in California, Hawaii, North Africa, Bermuda and other exotic locales.

His “Town”: American playwright and novelist Thornton Niven Wilder (1897-1975) – a three-time Pulitzer Prize-winner remembered best for “Our Town,” his melancholy meditation on mortality and the passage of time – would be 129 years old today.

Also born on April 17 were French Catholic nun Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620-1700), Canada’s first canonized saint; American surveyor and sportsman Alexander Cartwright (1820-1892), who was overshadowed by Abner Doubleday’s faux legacy but is now correctly honored as the “Father of Baseball”; American financier and philanthropist John Pierpont “J.P.” Morgan (1837-1913), who dominated Wall Street from the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era; British archeologist Sir Leonard Woolley (1880-1960), who significantly advanced modern knowledge of ancient Mesopotamian civilization; and Canadian professional wrestler and actor Roderick George Toombs (1954-2015), remembered best as all-time heel “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (who later mellowed into a fan-favorite – and delivered the greatest one-liner in action cinema history).

Independent thinker: And take a bow, Elizabeth Clark “Liz” Phair! The American singer-songwriter – a Grammy-nominated free spirit who doesn’t give a f^©% what you think of her provocative topics and explicit lyrics – turns 59 today.

Send your best to the Indie Rock pioneer at editor@innovateli.com, where we think long and hard on your news tips – and adore your provocative calendar events.

 

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. Learn more here.

 

BUT FIRST, THIS

Water world: Four student teams are soaked in glory following the Long Island Regional Planning Council’s 2026 Water Quality Challenge.

Judges in the annual competition – which tasks student innovators with reducing the amount of nitrogen seeping into regional groundwaters – crowned entries from Fire Island’s Woodhull Middle School, Port Washington’s Paul D. Schreiber High School, Shirley’s William Floyd High School and Smithtown High School East. Woodhull’s fifth- and sixth-graders, and the older team from Smithtown East, proposed rain gardens using native plants and nitrogen filters, while William Floyd students suggested installing 15 rain barrels at carefully calculated spots on their school’s 45,000-square-foot rooftop. Schrieber students also aimed high, designing native plant-populated “green roofs” for their facility.

Each school is eligible to receive a $2,500 grant to implement its winning proposal. “The Long Island Water Quality Challenge encourages students to take an active role in addressing one of our region’s most serious problems,” noted LIRPC Chairman John Cameron. “Students not only learn about the environmental impacts of nitrogen pollution, but also develop innovative, practical solutions that can … serve as an educational tool for their communities.”

Station integration: Stony Brook University has stepped up its micro-mobility game.

As part of its “ongoing commitment to sustainability and student-centered design,” the university has installed its first-ever solar-powered micro-mobility charging station, perfect for juicing up e-scooters, e-bikes and other electrified mobilizers favored by modern campus crowds (think skateboards and hoverboards). Located outside the Chapin Apartments complex on Stony Brook’s East Campus, the station – a New York State first for Michigan-based green-energy manufacturer EnerFusion – employs an innovative combination of solar-energy panels and gel-cell batteries to offer round-the-clock charging capacity, completely off-grid.

It also marks a significant safety upgrade for Stony Brook – and a bit of catching up, according to Curtis Charles, the university’s director of Campus Residences Information Systems. “Honestly, our students are ahead of us on this – they’re already choosing sustainable transportation,” Charles noted. “What they’ve been missing is safe infrastructure to match … Keeping e-bikes and e-scooters out of residence hall rooms isn’t just a policy issue, it’s a fire-safety issue.”

 

TOP OF THE SITE

Break in the action: As independent doctors, insurers and pharmacists are gobbled up by giant corporate masters, Voices Healthcare Anchor Terry Lynam details the “Break Up Big Medicine” bill – easier said than done, as it turns out.

Quick fix: Check out this Monday’s Calendar Newsletter for a rundown of the most interesting and important … wait, what? You don’t get the Monday Calendar Newsletter? Because it’s subscriber-only and you’re not a subscriber? Well, now you are.

 

ICYMI

Human space exploration has been stuck in neutral for half-a-century and America’s thirst for knowledge has sputtered proportionately – did Artemis II provide the innovative spark the nation so badly needs?

 

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: Women’s wellness wunderkind Vella Bioscience combines biology, psychology and CBD in a clinical-grade female sexual arousal serum.

From Montana: Bozeman-based counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems spearhead Hall Lidar neutralizes aerial threats with its acoustic drone-detection system.

From New York City: Gaming peripherals prince Attack Shark kicks off second-anniversary sale by launching new high-performance carbon-fiber gaming mouse.

 

ON THE MOVE

+ Adhi Sharma has been appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Garden City-based Family & Children’s Association. He is president of Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside.

+ Miguel Materin has been appointed head of ocular oncology at the Lake Success-based Northwell Cancer Institute. He was a professor of ophthalmology at the Duke University Eye Center in North Carolina.

+ Jonathan Weiss has been appointed co-vice chairman of the CLE Committee for the New York State Bar Association’s Trusts and Estates Section. He is an attorney in the Trusts and Estates Practice Group at Uniondale-based Forchelli Deegan Terrana.

+ Christopher Nuzzi has been promoted to president and CEO of Melville-based Advantage Title. He was senior vice president and regional director.

+ Melville-based H2M architects + engineers has announced several new hires:

• John Albrecht has been hired as a staff engineer. He was a structural designer at The Ramtin Group in Philadelphia.
• Kattiana Ananca has been hired as a staff designer. She was an architectural Computer Aided Design drafter at Rosenbaum Design Group in Lake Success.
• Renee Fassano has been hired as a market specialist. She was the business development and operations manager at Energia in Smithtown.
• Paul Palacios has been hired as a staff engineer. He was a project engineer/Computer Aided Design drafter at PJS Electric in New Rochelle.

+ Nicole Resulovic has been hired as an associate attorney at Melville-based Cona Elder Law. She was an associate attorney at Haller & Haller in Glendale.

 

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 (Ballroom Blitz Edition)

Ugh, the courts are so mean: Who knew demolishing the historic East Wing for a gaudy $300 million ballroom would be so hard?

Nothing like the real thing: Applique gold molding (and secret bunkers?) will never match these stunning world-class halls.

That’s Sweet: Original guitarist Andy Scott leads the “Ballroom Blitz” glam band’s last Aussie hurrah.

Having a ball: Please continue supporting the fantastic firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Burman Real Estate, which takes real pleasure in revitalizing Long Island with smart, purposeful and well-conceived development. Check them out.