Walk off: Welcome to Friday, intrepid innovators, as we top off another exciting workweek and kick off another well-earned weekend – two off days to turn off the tech and shake off the workaday drudge.
If you’re feeling a little off (or not), here’s an on-point innovation newsletter to offload some stress – and help your creativity blast off.
Fairy tale: You don’t need Capraesque heroics to be a good lawmaker — and there are plenty out there, despite the ugly headlines.
Honor among thieves: Today is May 19, a tough one to swallow – Celebrate Your Elected Officials Day, when we’re supposed to thank our legislators, senators and other lawmakers for their public service. Frankly, that’s hard to do these days.
Maybe it’s a moment to remember that for every sickening George Santos, there are 100 hardworking representatives who earned their station, uphold the law and keep their word. For every befuddled Joe Biden, a solid young thinker. For every uneducated, headline-grabbing jester who thinks loud automatically equals proud, a studious, innovation-affirming soldier who knows honor always precedes pride.
With our national fate in the balance – and because scandal is fun – we hear more about the rotten apples spoiling the bunch and less about the good eggs doing progressive work. But they’re out there.
And eat it, too: It’s also National Devil’s Food Cake Day, so have at it.
Rings a bell: Innovation was a cakewalk for multitalented American inventor William Channing, who patented the Electromagnetic Fire Alarm Telegraph for Cities – known better as the fire alarm box – on May 19, 1857.
Real McCoy: The actual Buffalo Bill Cody, and friends.
Have gun, will travel: Also hitting the target was Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show, which staged its first rootin’-tootin’ performance in Nebraska on this date in 1883.
Bigger tops came later: Exactly one year later – on May 19, 1884 – the famous Ringling Brothers debuted their small traveling show in Wisconsin.
With their first pick: Speaking of entertaining showcases, the annual National Football League player draft became a thing 88 years ago today, when NFL owners approved a plan for an organized selection process with weaker teams picking first.
Birthday candle (in the wind): And it was May 19, 1962, when Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe delivered history’s most famous rendition of “Happy Birthday to You,” serenading President John F. Kennedy – 10 days before his 45th birthday – during a Madison Square Garden fundraiser.
It was the tortured starlet’s last public appearance.
Hopkins to it: American business magnate and philanthropist Johns Hopkins (1795-1873) – Baltimore’s favorite son, who made a fortune in banking, real estate and railroads and spread it around – would be 228 years old today.
All the feels: Ephron’s characters and situations hit close to home.
Also born on May 19 were American botanist and illustrator Catherine Furbish (1834-1931), who spent six decades studying and sketching flora; American explorer, conservationist and pioneering taxidermist Carl Akeley (1864-1926), remembered for his contributions to U.S. museums; American civil rights icon Malcom X (born Malcom Little, 1925-1965), who advocated justice by any means necessary; American writer and filmmaker Nora Ephron (1941-2012), who owned the real-world romantic dramedy on stage and screen; and American journalist Jane Brody (born 1941), known best for her science and nutrition essays.
Who? And take a bow, Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend! The front man of influential British rock band The Who – a big fan of Indian spiritual master Meher Baba, who influences many Townshend musical compositions – turns 78 today.
Join Together and give the lyricist behind Behind Blue Eyes your best at editor@innovateli.com, where My Our Generation Won’t Get Fooled Again – not when your news tips help us see for miles and miles and your calendar events fuel our Magic Bus.
About our sponsor: Farrell Fritz, a full-service law firm with 15 practice groups, advises startups on entity formation, founder and shareholder agreements, funding, executive compensation and benefits, licensing and technology transfer, mergers and acquisitions and other strategic transactions. The firm’s blog, New York Venture Hub, discusses legal and business issues facing entrepreneurs and investors.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Bridged edition: Governor Kathy Hochul is spanning Long Island for a bridgework review.
The governor’s office this week updated the status of several Island-based bridge construction and rehabilitation projects, including construction of a new Sunrise Highway overpass for the Town of Brookhaven’s Hospital Road (aided by a mild winter, now half complete) and five Suffolk County concrete bridge-deck renewal projects set to begin before Summer. The deck-replacement effort actually dates back to Spring 2022, with work on three Nassau County bridges – on the Long Island Expressway, the LIE service road and a Meadowbrook State Parkway entrance ramp – already complete.
The bridge barrage is part of a previously announced, much larger investment in Long Island roadway enhancements – “critical investments toward transforming and modernizing our state’s infrastructure,” Hochul said Wednesday. “Residents are entitled to travel our roads and know they are safe,” added Huntington Town Supervisor Ed Smyth. “The Town of Huntington is grateful to Gov. Hochul for securing funds to ensure … our Long Island roadways are structurally sound and safe for travelers.”
Creative essence: Innovation is the lifeblood of successful corporations, according to Northwell Health CEO Michael Dowling.
Consider this a challenge: Northwell Health has once again looked within to find next-generation medical technologies.
The New Hyde Park-based health system has awarded $500,000 apiece to two employee-driven projects hurtling toward healthcare’s future: iNav, featuring AI-driven identification and navigation for cancer patients, and StrokeFighter, a novel bioelectronic therapy after acute ischemic stroke. The combined $1 million purse was the grand prize of the 2023 Innovation Challenge, Northwell’s annual (except for 2022) internal contest seeking trench-level ideas for med-tech innovations – 84 this year, rolling in from across the system to be judged by an elite panel of interdisciplinary experts.
Hailing from the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research – Northwell’s R&D mothership – and other regional institutions, this year’s winners “represent the very best ideas and novel approaches” distinguishing the health system, according to Northwell Health President and CEO Michael Dowling. “Innovation and creativity are the essence of good organizations,” Dowling added. “At Northwell, we take pride in fostering a culture that promotes our team members who strive to advance science and the delivery of care.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Simulation celebration: With a national nursing shortage only getting worse, Albany has accelerated New York’s professional nurse-licensing protocols.
Automatic PILOT: The Nassau and Suffolk IDAs have been busy this month, with senior-rental and warehouse/distribution construction projects earning tax breaks.
Namely: Featuring another dozen experts from the top tiers of regional innovation, Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast’s Season 4 guest list will blow your mind. Seasons 1-3? Not too shabby, either.
ICYMI
Age verification in deep space, drones vs. sharks in LI waters.
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: Independent TV advertising platform Cadent offers advertisers turnkey data management via advanced Measurement Marketplace.
From California: Los Angeles-based supplement specialist HUM Nutrition eases PMS symptoms with tasty chasteberry-extract gummies.
From Texas: Austin-based premium spirits brand Dulce Vida Tequila brings the party in ready-to-drink cocktail cartons.
ON THE MOVE
Hank Foley
+ Hank Foley has joined Melville-based Accelerate Long Island’s Board of Directors. He is the president of the Old Westbury-based New York Institute of Technology.
+ Melville-based DGNY Commercial has announced the addition of two veteran commercial brokers: Dennis McCoy, previously with Melville-based Cushman & Wakefield, and Marty Miller, previously with Mineola-based Smith and DeGroat Real Estate.
+ Michael Antongiovanni has been appointed to the New York State Bar Association’s House of Delegates decision- and policymaking body. He is a partner in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice Group at Garden City-based Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein.
+ Lawrence Eric Davidow has joined the South Setauket-based Jefferson’s Ferry Board of Trustees. He is the senior and managing partner of Islandia-based Davidow, Davidow, Siegel & Stern.
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 Farrell Fritz). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (How Dare You Edition)
On a DARE: Happy anniversary, Drug Abuse Resistance Education.
DARE you: The LAPD’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education program turns 40 this year.
Double dare you: The EPA could make fossil-fuel execs put up or shut up.
Triple dog dare you: Scammers hope you’ll Google these five phrases.
Daring exploits: Please continue supporting the amazing firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Farrell Fritz, which traces an adventurous path of legal success along business law’s cutting edge. Check them out.
