By GINA CZARK // How bad is our opioid epidemic? Consider these stats: In 1993, America’s peak year of gun violence, we lost approximately 40,000 people to firearms. The AIDS crisis claimed about 45,000 lives in 1995, the grimmest year on record, while 1972 was the worst year ever for car crash fatalities, claiming the lives of about 50,000 Americans. Some 70,237 people died in 2017 from drug overdoses in America, making this current crisis…
By MITCH MAIMAN // What could working in an old-school neighborhood pharmacy teach you about running a cutting-edge tech firm? On the surface, these two wildly different businesses have nothing in common. But over the years, I’ve come to realize that I learned many of the rules for growing a successful business working in that drugstore as a kid. My family owned a neighborhood pharmacy in Brooklyn. Maiman’s Pharmacy was off Eastern Parkway in Crown…
By PHIL RUGILE // Helping new companies get started has become a big part of the “Startup Economy.” Investopedia defines a startup as “a company that is in the first stage of its operations,” often bankrolled by their entrepreneurial founders, who are attempting to capitalize on a new product or service. It’s no easy task. Until you’ve experienced the terror of being an entrepreneur – of struggling to convince your target market of your product…
By JEFF GUILLOT // One thing I drill into the collective consciousness of students every semester is that the role of the federal government in your daily life is minimal, compared to state and local governments. In normal, peaceful times, the average citizen only interacts with the federal government if they are interacting with the military or the immigration system. Virtually every other element of your day-to-day interactions with government are at more localized levels,…
By DEAN DeCARLO // As a 25-year-old millennial, I can distinctly remember a world without omnipresent electronic devices. Then my father brought home a white Compaq PC, preloaded with Windows 95. I was awed by its capabilities – and little did I know a dramatic digital revolution had begun. By intermediate school, most of my Commack classrooms had smartboards. My fourth-grade website “The Weekly Video” used a “drag and drop” builder. It’s safe to say…
By JEFF GUILLOT // Congratulations are due to my millennial-aged comrades. In 2018, you outshined every previous dismal midterm voter turnout and showed up in record numbers. It was clear that people wanted change, and young voters – who ideologically lean to the left – helped elect a Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives that is the most diverse in history, and a record-shattering Democratic majority in the New York State Senate that…
By MITCH MAIMAN // My view into the near-term future of the technology industry on Long Island reflects my lens on the world. Understanding the business model of IPS, a product-development and professional services company with a client base crossing a wide variety of vertical markets, provides context for my perspective on the technology industry here. From giants like Google and our local favorite Zebra Technologies to small-size startup businesses, we have clients in every…
By BENJAMIN LAWLER // The internal combustion engine is old, inefficient and dirty. Its days are numbered. The future is electric vehicles, which are new, efficient and clean. At least, that what you’ve been told, by people who have a financial interest in propagating EVs. The truth is somewhat different. EVs and ICE-powered vehicles first competed in the late 1800s. But in the early 1900s, the ICE was found to be more desirable due to…
By MARC ALESSI // It’s no secret that Long Island has problems with cellphone service. More than 200 cellphone “dead zones” were identified in late 2016, as well as poor-quality network speed, reliability and performance. U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has even urged carriers to improve coverage on the Island. As a longtime resident of the North Shore, I have witnessed firsthand what it means to not have reliable wireless connectivity with our mobile-enabled electronics….
By GOV. ANDREW CUOMO // Editor’s note: This article has been edited for length. The full text of the governor’s op-ed is available here. The Amazon transaction is an historic transformative moment for the entire New York City region. I have done enough development work during my career to know there is no large development project that is accomplished without controversy, especially in a city like New York and especially in this polarized, hyper-political time. While…
By NADA MARIE ANID // Colleges and universities are in crisis mode. The digital age continues to transform disciplines – dissolving some, merging and reconfiguring others. A highly trained and college-educated workforce, one grounded in the ethics of how to best harness new technologies to benefit humanity, is needed more than ever to tackle issues such as cyberwarfare and artificial intelligence. However, higher education is an expense close to, or greater than, the cost of…
By JOHN BILLARD // It’s National Drive Electric Week, and drivers across the country are showing off their electric vehicles. Americans are looking towards the future when it comes to their vehicles. According to a 2018 AAA survey, 20 percent of Americans want their next vehicle to be electric. Fortunately, the future of electric vehicles is only looking better and brighter than ever – particularly right here on Long Island. Last fall, Ford partnered with…
By ANNE LOTITO-SCHUH // New Yorkers are ready to lead the nation in the battle against climate change. Whether it is our homes being destroyed by intensifying storms, our flood insurance premiums rising, increased public spending on infrastructure intended to secure us from future storms or the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink, it is little wonder that New Yorkers, and specifically Long Islanders, understand the calamitous effects of climate…
By HENRY FOLEY // At a recent speech in Virginia, Attorney General Jeff Sessions proclaimed that undocumented immigrants in Arizona were more likely to go to jail than U.S. citizens. His source was a study by the Crime Prevention Research Center. But there was a problem. That study had a fatal flaw that undermined its conclusion. In fact, the majority of literature on the subject actually shows the reverse. This isn’t the only example of…
By BOB ISAKSEN // Long Island’s population is on the rise: Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows three of the top-five towns for population growth in New York State are located on the Island. Although it brings immense opportunity for local communities and businesses, this growth also brings new considerations in urban planning. Long Island communities are facing new challenges with dated infrastructure, and this will have major implications for the local economy….