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Newsletters January 20, 2021

No. 561: Beginnings, endings and end-arounds – and dammit, Jim, I’m 101 today

  Hold on to your potatoes: Welcome, dear reader, to Jan. 20, 2021. Today, of course, is the series finale of “The Apprentice President,” which promises to be as somber as the “M*A*S*H” coda, as pointless as the “Seinfeld” sendoff, as inconclusive as the conclusion of “The Sopranos” … and as serious as a heart attack. Whatever happens on this monumental Wednesday in our shining City on a Hill, consider this: You may praise President…

Pandemic Primer January 19, 2021

Innovation in the Age of Coronavirus

Now entering its final stages, the evolving COVID-19 pandemic continues to reshape the world around us, and myriad Long Island forces – large and small, corporate and nonprofit, industrial and academic – have risen to the challenge. Innovate Long Island presents Innovation in the Age of Coronavirus as a running journal of this region’s resourceful response to the greatest global challenge since World War II. Stay healthy, dear readers.     Speeding past 1M, Albany…

Coronavirus January 19, 2021

No shot: Pfizer nixes New York’s direct appeal

By GREGORY ZELLER // It appears Albany’s questionable attempt to cut out the middleman in its immunization efforts is a nonstarter. Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday sent a letter to Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla requesting the ability to purchase COVID-19 vaccines directly from the New York City-based global pharma manufacturer. Whether this was an honest effort to speed vaccinations to New Yorkers or a political stunt, the effort was doomed from the start…

Voices January 15, 2021

Hurry up and wait for slow, but steady, vaccinations

By TERRY LYNAM // Frustration abounds as Long Islanders and Americans nationwide struggle to make appointments for a COVID-19 vaccination. The initial strategy put in place by Operation Warp Speed – the public-private partnership established by the federal government to develop, manufacture and distribute the vaccines – purposely held back 50 percent of the nation’s available supply to guarantee second doses to the healthcare workers, nursing home denizens and others eligible during the rollout’s first…

Newsletters January 15, 2021

No. 560: Do you ever have déjà vu? Or loose change? Or bagels? Or déjà vu?

  Stay tuned: You made it, dear reader – the end of another weak-in-the-knees workweek, with deadly pandemics and everything else overshadowed by the sickening schism in our nation’s capital. We’re in uncharted waters for sure – unprecedented impeachments, a GOP civil war, whispers of collusion within the House (“Benedict Arnold territory,” according to one former U.S. attorney), very real fears of violence in the streets. What happens next? This much we know: Innovation continues….

Workforce January 14, 2021

State launches Offshore Wind Training Institute, again

By GREGORY ZELLER // Representing the largest public investment by any state in offshore wind workforce development, New York’s Offshore Wind Training Institute is now afloat. Seriously. The State University of New York and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority launched (or is it re-launched?) the $20 million OWTI this week, aiming to train 2,500 workers through an “educational infrastructure” administered by NYSERDA, Farmingdale State College and Stony Brook University. Announced as…

Newsletters January 13, 2021

No. 559: Flying saucers, supervillains and mutant viruses – are we living in an ‘X Files’ episode?

  Going to be a big day: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as we brave another wintry week of socioeconomic innovation – with the fate of the Republic hanging in the balance, once again. Wish you were here: It’s Jan. 13 out there, and while out-of-control pandemics and potential revolutions continue to darken American skies, the rest of the world goes on: Liberation Day in Togo, Constitution Day in Mongolia, Democracy Day in Cape Verde…

Government January 12, 2021

With ambitious agenda, Cuomo goes even harder left

By GREGORY ZELLER // Online sports betting, legalized marijuana and a “fight” against the federal government for overdue COVID-19 compensation – against what figures to be a relatively friendly Congress – highlight Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plans for 2021. In a typically shoot-for-the-moon State of the State address delivered Monday, the governor outlined an annual agenda overflowing with healthcare initiatives – including comprehensive telehealth legislation, the creation of the nation’s first “public health corps” and fair…

Coronavirus December 16, 2020

Northwell to lead Island vaccination plan, distribution

By GREGORY ZELLER // New York State will establish Regional Vaccination Hubs to streamline the Phase 2 administration of more plentiful COVID-19 vaccines. Scheduled to commence in “early 2021,” according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, Phase 2 will involve the distribution of larger numbers of vaccines to more diverse communities, including essential workers and at-risk community members. In Phase 1, limited supplies of biopharma giant Pfizer’s freshly minted COVID-19 vaccine are primarily targeting frontline healthcare…

Newsletters December 11, 2020

No. 554: Indiana arrives, Concordes soar, Hofstra picks a prez and Adelphi goes to the Grammys

  The end is nigh: And nobody’s complaining, dear reader, as we wrap up this blustery workweek and anticipate a weekend of bustling holiday shopping – or what passes for it in confused, confounded 2020. You WILL enjoy yourselves: It’s Friday, Dec. 11, and to our many readers in the Central Luzon, a joyous Pampanga Day, 500 years in the making and decreed four decades ago by that old Filipino softy Ferdinand Marcos. Here in…

Coronavirus December 8, 2020

Cold facts, with Dr. Fauci: Virus surging, but NYS ready

By GREGORY ZELLER // They’re thinking outside the box at different points along the COVID-19 vaccine distribution lines, and that includes New York State – where the thinking is decidedly inside the box, actually, and “America’s doctor” approves. Behold, the COVID Cold Chain, the logistical blueprint of a temperature-controlled, time-sensitive national distribution network that’s anything but Point A-to-Point B. As Pfizer and Moderna begin distribution this month of their novel coronavirus vaccines – with other…

Coronavirus December 3, 2020

Vaccines soon, but don’t expect quick shot in the arm

By GREGORY ZELLER // New York State’s first batch of COVID-19 vaccines is on its way – but don’t expect to feel their effects anytime soon. Assuming all safety, regulatory and efficacy metrics are satisfied in time – they should be – Albany anticipates receiving 170,000 individual doses of a Pfizer vaccine immunizing against the novel coronavirus on Dec. 15, distributed by the federal government. While this is certainly good news – “The goal line…

Coronavirus November 12, 2020

Crackdown: Bad news for restaurants (and Aunt Joan)

By GREGORY ZELLER // Welcome back to the brink, Long Island. And you might want to rethink those Thanksgiving plans. Coronavirus cases are spiking – the New York State Department of Health on Wednesday reported 4,820 new statewide cases (recorded Tuesday), with exponential proliferation in numerous color-coded “microclusters.” Businesses and residents, meanwhile, continue to flout Albany’s pandemic regulations – reports of public and private gatherings exceeding state-mandated occupancy limits flood the news. With schools closing…

Newsletters November 4, 2020

No. 545: Hanging with Cronkite, King Tut and Long Island particle physicists, as the smoke clears

  Is it over? Not quite, dear readers – but the voting is done, there’s a hard stop on those miserable campaign commercials and the endless election signs blockin’ out the scenery … one day, like a miracle, they will disappear. So, there’s that. Welcome to Wednesday, very much The Day After. Sincerest congratulations to the 150 million-or-so Americans who exercised their right to vote this year, many under challenging conditions that ranged from unfortunate…

Newsletters October 23, 2020

No. 542: Earth, Smurfs and the iPod all begin – and so does a new era in Bay Shore

  No argument here: Welcome to Friday, dear readers, as we recover from another debilitating debate night – hopefully, the last we’ll ever see like that – and wrap up another busy workweek. It’s Oct. 23 on Long Island and around the world – a big date for our readers in Hungary (National Day), Brazil (Aviator’s Day) and Thailand (Chulalongkorn Day, commemorating the 1910 passing of King Chulalongkorn, beloved fifth monarch of the Chakri dynasty)….