Storm front: Welcome to Friday, intrepid innovators, as we wrap up another busy workweek – and many of our readers south of the Mason-Dixon Line endure the wrath of Hurricane Helene, the latest “100-year storm” raging across America. (Seems more like 100 days.)
With the disastrous cyclone bearing down (promising “unsurvivable” storm surges, according to the National Weather Service in Tallahassee), we can’t help but notice the bitter irony that those who reject science most often pay the highest price – in this case, climate change-denying Florida lawmakers and the electorates that support them. But that’s a debate for another day; today, we wish everyone in the catastrophic storm’s path good health and good luck. Stay safe.
Getting there is half the fun: It’s World Tourism Day, a great day to get out there.
Trip advisor: Here on Long Island, there’s a damp but relatively calm first full weekend of Fall on tap – and one more workday to navigate before we get to it.
Long Island day-trip attractions won’t benefit from a crisp and sunny Autumn this weekend, but perhaps other global destinations will fare better – today is Sept. 27, after all, known best as the U.N.’s fairly self-explanatory World Tourism Day.
Crushing it: Today is also National Crush Day, which has nothing to do with the cute redhead in second-period geometry and everything to do with the galactic importance of recycling – used tin cans, in this case.
And while it usually doesn’t come in a tin can, one of the world’s great beverages takes center stage today – it’s National Chocolate Milk Day, guzzled gratefully every Sept. 27.
On track: Turning from liquids to gases (literally), the Stockton and Darlington Railway – the world’s first public railway to utilize steam-powered locomotives – opened on this date in 1825 with a cargo run between the two English towns (including shipments of coal and flour).
Also on track: Turning from steam power to horsepower, we find Aqueduct Racetrack – the utilitarian South Ozone Park horseracing circuit that didn’t become “the Big A” until its 1959 redesign – opening for the first time 130 years ago today.
By land: Turning from horses to horseless carriages, the first Model T car rolled off the Ford Motor Co. production line on Sept. 27, 1908.
Queen of the seas: The Queen Elizabeth shipped off 86 years ago today.
By sea: Turning from automobiles to ocean liners, the Queen Elizabeth – known as the QE1 now, and the world’s largest cruise ship at the time – put to sea with a festive launch ceremony on this date in 1938.
By air: And whether or not it’s “dying” under current host Jimmy Fallon, “The Tonight Show” – in the capable hands of host Steve Allen – first hit the airwaves on Sept. 27, 1954.
With a familiar format (including an opening monologue, comedy skits and celebrity interviews), the premier welcomed special guests Steve Lawrence, Eydie Gormé, Andy Williams and Willie Mays, among others.
Black rock: American politician, college administrator and African Methodist Episcopal Church minister Hiram Rhodes Revels (1827-1901) – a Mississippi Republican who became the first African American U.S. senator – would be 197 years old today.
Power player: A deft fielder, Schmidt was most respected for his mammoth (and plentiful) home runs.
Also born on Sept. 27 were American statesman, political philosopher and Founding Father Samuel Adams (1722-1803), who was John Adams’ second cousin; British physiologist Sir Robert Geoffrey Edwards (1925-2013), a Nobel Prize-winning pioneer of reproductive medicine; American professional baseball player Mamie “Peanut” Johnson (1935-2017), one of only three women to play in the Negro Leagues (and the only one to pitch); American actor and singer Marvin Lee Aday (1947-2022), a true bat out of Hell remembered best as Meat Loaf; and Indian Hindu spiritual leader Sri Mātā Amritānandamayī Devi (born 1953), known to her many followers as Amma (“Mother”).
Schmidt happens: And take a bow, Michael Jack Schmidt! The retired American Hall of Fame baseball player – a career Philadelphia Philly who earned his station as one of Major League Baseball’s greatest all-time third basemen – turns 75 today.
Send your best to the aging slugger – who clubbed 548 home runs, won National League Most Valuable Player honors three times and added 10 Gold Glove Awards for his exceptional fielding skills – at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips go deep (and your calendar events are pure gold).
About our sponsor: Stony Brook University Economic Development collaborates with regional innovators, supports startups and facilitates early-stage enterprise by leveraging the resources of a SUNY Flagship University and partner Brookhaven National Laboratory. Combining state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, the world-class expertise of 900-plus scientific investigators and best commercialization practices, Economic Development and its partners have the collective imagination and ability to attain exciting new heights for the Long Island innovation economy. Learn more here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Flood zone: If struggling Long Island businesses are worried about being underwater now, wait until they see the new storm study commissioned by the Long Island Regional Planning Council.
According to The Long Island Economic Flood Risk Study, a Geographic Information System analysis conducted by Syosset-based LIRO GIS (a subsidiary of construction firm LiRo-Hill) and released Thursday, more than 43,000 South Shore businesses across Nassau and Suffolk counties – employing almost 370,000 people and generating a whopping $56 billion in annual revenues – face a severe flooding risk. The dire warning is based on Federal Emergency Management Agency flood-plain maps and is especially stark in light of recent extreme-weather events like the historic Aug. 18-19 rainstorm that drowned parts of the Island and Hurricane Helene, currently inundating the nation’s Southeast quadrant.
Long Island Regional Planning Council Chairman John Cameron, who also invoked the regional devastation of 2011’s Superstorm Sandy, said working with local governments to “develop measures and strategies that can mitigate the risk” should be Job No. 1. “The devastation from severe flooding impacts not only residents along the South Shore but commercial properties,” Cameron noted. “It is vital to quantify the potential economic hit our regional economy could sustain from the next big storm.”
Cara Sultan: Early intervention.
Better choices: It’s never too early to focus on drug-use prevention, according to the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County.
To that end, CCE Suffolk is hosting a free program for parents of children ages 9 to 14, designed to head off drug abuse before it starts. Administered by the CCE Suffolk Community Education Program and funded by the Suffolk County Opioid Task Force, “Guiding Good Choices” includes five 90-minute sessions (on five Monday mornings, beginning Sept. 30) focused on critical topics like promoting wellbeing in teens, setting guidelines, managing family conflicts and helping kids develop practical skills to mitigate peer pressure, among others.
The program was developed by faculty members at the University of Washington School of Social Work and has been successfully delivered to families across the country, according to CCE Suffolk. “Guiding Good Choices has proven to create significant and lasting improvements in parenting skills and parent-child relationships,” noted CCE Suffolk Community Education Program Parent Educator Cara Sultan. “By emphasizing the importance of strong family bonds, the program helps preteens adhere to family guidelines, encourages healthy behavior standards and protects them from developing health and behavior problems.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Campaign manager: Memorabilia from more than 250 years of U.S. Presidential elections distinguishes “Hail to the Chief: Electing the American President,” a new educational exhibit hosted by The Roosevelt School at Long Island University.
Team works: Innovate Long Island Newsletter subscriptions are always easy, always free and – considering the goldmine of entertaining and educational content delivered straight to your inbox three days a week – always awesome. Sign up your entire innovation team.
ICYMI
The New York Institute of Technology has ceremoniously opened its new student-residence facility – a long-awaited win for students enrolled at New York Tech’s Old Westbury campus.
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 Florida: Orlando-based workforce-training edu-tech PETE redefines training protocols with AI-powered, roleplay-based Skill Simulations platform.
From Texas: Houston-based legal-assistance platform LinktoLawyers transforms the way clients search for affordable attorneys.
From Florida: Stuart-based quantum-physics frontrunner Base Molecular Resonance Technologies reimagines security with patented explosives/firearms detection tech.
ON THE MOVE
Justin Lite
+ Justin Lite has been hired as a partner at West Islip-based Porchia & Fernan, which will be renamed Lite, Porchia & Fernan. He was a partner at West Islip-based Lite & Russell.
+ Michael Koblenz has been hired as counsel at Uniondale-based Westerman Ball Ederer Miller Zucker & Sharfstein. He was a partner at Mound Cotton Wollan & Greengrass in Manhattan.
+ James Horan has been hired as assistant principal of East Islip High School in Islip Terrace. He was principal at Samoset Middle School in Lake Ronkonkoma.
+ Joe Verghese has been named chairman of Stony Brook-based Renaissance School of Medicine’s Department of Neurology. He was a professor of neurology and medicine and the inaugural chief of the Division of Cognitive & Motor Aging at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx.
+ Lourdes Taglialatela has been hired as program coordinator at Long Island Cares’ Western Nassau Center for Food Assistance & Community Support in Valley Stream. She was director of parish social ministry/outreach at St. Peter of Alcantara Roman Catholic Church in Port Washington.
+ Brightwaters-based Sheehan & Co. CPA has announced three promotions:
- Matthew Burnett, formerly senior associate, is now supervisor
- Thomas Gonyou, formerly a semi-senior accountant, is now a senior accountant
- John Carpeneto, formerly a semi-senior accountant, is now a senior accountant
+ Michael Quartararo has been hired as associate principal at John Quincy Adams Primary School in Deer Park. He was assistant principal at the School No. 6 Early Learning Center in Oceanside.
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 Stony Brook University). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (When The Moon Hits Your Eye Edition)
Moon base: Before blasting off to the Moon, European astronauts are touching down in Cologne, Germany.
Moon clue: What a proposed Moon-based telescope could teach science about mining and manufacturing in space.
Moon Two: Training for future lunar missions at the European Astronaut Center’s hyper-realistic LUNA facility.
Moon, too: Earth is getting a second moon, but only temporarily.
Over the Moon: Please continue supporting the innovative institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including Stony Brook University Economic Development, where no scientific or commercialization ambition is out of reach. Check them out.
