Marty Markowitz

The New York Post's Chuck Bennett and Rick Calder report today that Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner and other project backers have "funneled" at least $680,000 to nonprofits set up and championed by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. Mr. Markowitz, of course, remains one of the downtown Brooklyn project's biggest cheerleaders. (He last year purged a community board opposed to Atlantic Yards.)

Mr. Markowitz, who either wants to be borough president for another four years (should term limist be repealed) or mayor, told the Post he was "absolutely proud of everything" his nonprofits had done for Brooklyn. Two of the nonprofits organize concert series, and the other promotes tourism and cultural events.

Here’s a shot from an event in Brooklyn yesterday where central Brooklyn lawmakers who supported Barack Obama in the February 5 primary announced they’re endorsing Representative Ed Towns for reelection.

“I made the decision to support Senator Obama because of his message of change,” said State Senator John Sampson, in a public statement. “I made the decision to support Congressman Towns for this same reason. Towns’ seniority in Congress enables him to build strong relationships and alliances in order to bring the change needed that will move our great borough forward.”

The other elected officials included Towns' son, Assemblyman Darryl Towns; State Senators Eric Adams and Kevin Parker; State Assemblymen Hakeem Jeffries and Karim Camara; and Borough President Marty Markowitz.  read more »

Here's an image that must be a welcome boost for Representative Ed Towns, who faces a primary challenge from former Real World guy Kevin Powell. The picture is from an event happening now about the importance of keeping the Brooklyn housing complex Starrett City affordable.

"Starrett City will be safe as long as I'm around," Towns said.

In attendance are Hillary Clinton, Representative Anthony Weiner, Assemblyman and Brooklyn Democratic chair Vito Lopez and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

A few people in the crowd chanted "Hillary, Hillary!"

"I think Ed Towns deserves a big round of applause and our gratitude," Clinton said.

(Along with other members of New York's Congressional delegation, Towns endorsed Barack Obama on June 5, shortly before Clinton dropped out of the presidential primary.  read more »

Thirty-eight percent of New Yorkers polled by Quinnipiac want to see Michael Bloomberg elected mayor again in 2009.

Which will help fuel rumors that he may somehow work to overturn the term limits that currently prevent him from seeking the position a third time.

Since it's fairly unlikely Bloomberg could do that, here's how the other 2009 mayoral candidates did.

Overall:
12% Ray Kelly
11% Marty Markowitz
10 % Anthony Weiner
7% Bill Thompson and Christine Quinn
4% Betsy Gotbaum

Among Democrats only:

12% Markowitz
11% Weiner
10% Quinn
8% Thompson

Among independent voters, Markowitz, Kelly and Weiner each took 12 percent.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and City Planning Director Amanda Burden, among others, sawed a log to open the new Red Hook Ikea today.

In this week's print Observer, Benjamin Popper profiles Greg O'Connell, Red Hook's biggest landlord and the de facto godfather of the new big-box.

"I'm in this business for 40 years," said Joe Chirico, standing in front of Marco Polo Ristorante, the restaurant he owns on Court Street in Carroll Gardens. "I started with Joe's Luncheonette two doors away--after so many years of being in fast food, I decided I needed to open a good restaurant."

Last week, Mr. Chirico was celebrating the 25th anniversary of his Italian restaurant with family and longtime friends and customers, including Borough President Marty Markowitz. When the restaurant opened, Mr. Chirico said of the neighborhood, "It was mostly Italian, but now it's changed for the better. We're getting more young people coming from everywhere, especially from Manhattan. This neighborhood is special, it became a very, very happening neighborhood for professional people; everybody likes to live in Carroll Gardens."

And now a new generation of entrepreneurs are following in Mr. Chirico's footsteps all over the borough, and that is especially true in Prospect Heights.  read more »

"How about making some noise for opening the beach?" Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said from the podium, as brightly dressed protesters standing behind a police line chanted, "Thor no more! Thor no more!"

So began another politically charged season at Coney Island under appropriately gloomy skies on Thursday morning.  read more »

Despite the recent acquittal of the three police officers on trial for the death of Sean Bell, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly still leads the pack of potential mayoral contenders, according to a new Quinnipiac poll.

That seems in part due to his name recognition and in part because most voters probably aren't thinking about a race that's still a year and a half away. Considering also that most candidates haven't even declared, the significance of the results are limited.  read more »

Dan Squadron is trying to unseat fellow Democrat Marty Connor for state Senate, in the district that represents lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

But more interesting than the people on the ballot are how Demoratic power brokers are lining up in that fight. Schumer is supporting Squardon, his former aide, against Connor, who didn’t support Schumer in his 1998 primary for Senate.

But as the invitation for Connor’s May 8th fund-raiser at the Ritz Carlton shows, he's got a good chunk of the rest of the party establishment.  read more »

Anthony Weiner, who opposed congestion pricing before Michael Bloomberg officially unveiled it, is (again!) taking the high road today.

Weiner, a likely mayoral candidate, released a statement saying, "Today may close a chapter on congestion pricing, but hopefully not the book on improving New York City's environment, reducing congestion, and raising additional revenue for mass transit. While the sides were clearly drawn, it's now time to come together to find solutions to these important challenges.”

Marty Markowitz, who might also run for mayor, was a less emphatic opponent. In the wake of its near-certain failure, the characteristically outspoken Brooklyn borough president links himself to Bloomberg and notes that he had several proposals that, he says, would have made the plan better:  read more »

"It was a great night and it was definitely a huge success by all accounts," gushed Coney Island T-shirt maven Dianna Carlin following last Saturday night's splashy grand opening party at her Lola Staar Dreamland Roller Rink in the abandoned landmark Childs Restaurant building on the boardwalk.

Sponsored by Glamour magazine and fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger (promoting a new perfume called "Dreaming"), the event featured appearances by sparkly dressed pop singer Ashanti and pig-tailed actress Marisa Tomei (sporting her own kitschy T-shirt: "I'M PULLIN' FOR PEE-WEE").

"We had 1,000 people RSVP," Ms. Carlin said. "Luckily, not all of them showed up. ... For a while, we ran out of roller skates."

Yet no one has done any skating at the makeshift rink since Saturday's party.

   read more »

Has anyone else noticed that Anthony seems a lot more, well, serious lately?

Perhaps fittingly for a maybe-front-runner for mayor, he seems to have toned down the old act, purposefully passing up opportunities to crack wise at the expense of his opponents.

For example: I asked Weiner to comment on Michael Bloomberg’s $500,000 donation to Republicans in Albany—a solid opening for the old Anthony Weiner, especially given the fact that his two likely mayoral opponents, Christine Quinn and Bill Thompson, were so recessive in their on-the-record reactions.  read more »

Here is the video Marty Markowitz showed at his entertaining State of the Borough speech earlier this year, which I've been bugging his office to upload to YouTube since then.  read more »

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, über-cheerleader for Atlantic Yards, has reacted to this morning's New York Times revelation about Atlantic Yards being behind schedule. His statement in its entirety:

“I am obviously disappointed that some key components of the Atlantic Yards project may not be completed on the timetable we had envisioned.  read more »

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A Quinnipiac poll released this morning finds that, among possible mayoral candidates, Ray Kelly is favored by 22 percent of respondents. He's followed, in order, by Anthony Weiner, Marty Markowitz, Christine Quinn, Betsy Gotbaum and Bill Thompson.

Polls at this stage in an election cycle should be taken with a massive grain of salt (as in, many of these candidates haven't officially declared they are going to run for mayor yet, and Betsy Gotbaum has said she won't run), but it seems to say something, at least, about Kelly's potential if he ever chose to get in. Also, although the poll was taken without listing party affiliations for the candidates, it is expected that Kelly would run as a Republican.

More of the release after the jump.  read more »

Before Marty Markowitz gave his State of the Borough last night in Brooklyn, his deputy borough president, Yvonne Graham, gave her own address, which sounds a lot like a kick-off stump speech for her much-discussed, but undeclared, bid to succeed Markowitz.
 read more »

We got a copy of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz's State of the Borough address, given yesterday at the Brooklyn Cruise Ship Terminal. Mr. Markowitz imagined out loud a bustling downtown Brooklyn, one that includes a completed Atlantic Yards project:  read more »

The first African-American judge elected to the Brooklyn Surrogate Court—Diana Johnson—was the subject of graffiti found spray painted inside the Brooklyn Courthouse this morning, confirmed a spokesman for Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

The graffiti, found inside an elevator in the courthouse, referenced Johnson and the n-word, according to two readers.

Al Sharpton, Johnson, Markowitz, and others are planning to hold press conference at Borough Hall in Brooklyn at 2 p.m.  read more »

Christine Quinn's office just released a statement which manages to oppose the M.T.A.'s proposed budget, but which (not coincidentally, I'm guessing) doesn't mention the governor. (Spitzer first articulated the plan and he praised the M.T.A.'s budget this morning.)

Quinn isn’t the only one carrying out this balancing act. Council membersEric Gioia and Simcha Felder similarly avoided attacking Spitzer in their statements opposing the M.T.A. budget, while Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz’s statement mentions the governor several times, but stops short of criticizing him.

Christine Quinn’s statement:  read more »

Steve Kornacki considers what he considers to be the absurdity of Hillary Clinton using essays Barack Obama wrote in grade school against him.

Also from the Observer, Howard Megdal reports that Marty Markowitz is "flabbergasted" to see Walter O'Malley, the man who took the Dodgers out of Brooklyn, inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Fifty years after Walter O’Malley pulled the Dodgers out of Brooklyn, baseball honored him with election to the Hall of Fame.

Reaction to the Dec. 3 announcement is mixed, though it tends to become more positive as one moves west. After all, O’Malley built his reputation on moving the Dodgers; it is the primary accomplishment cited by the Hall in its press release on the new inductees, and the lead sentence of his Times obituary.

That record has led to O’Malley being reviled by all manner of Brooklyn fans and assorted baseball traditionalists. A famous story has a pair of New York journalists trading their lists of the three greatest villains of the twentieth century; both men included Hitler, Stalin and Walter O’Malley.

“I’m flabbergasted, is my response,” Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said in a telephone interview following the announcement. “A couple of weeks ago, I read that they were even considering honoring Walter O’Malley. I told them if they insisted on doing this, it would break the hearts of Brooklynites all over again.” Markowitz suggested that the Hall make it up to Brooklyn with the enshrinement of former Dodger Gil Hodges.  read more »

In case you didn’t know, it’s the “Day Out Against Hate,” a string of events Christine Quinn organized to raise ideas for combating the reported 20 percent rise in hate crimes.

The Speaker was joined in Brooklyn this morning by a number of people, inlcuding Al Sharpton and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who made the most far-reaching proposal. Markowitz suggested, rather strongly, that city public school students be required to make field trips to institutions like the L.G.B.T. center in lower Manhattan.

More after the jump.  read more »

In advance of the state legislature’s return to session next week,  Michael Bloomberg and city officials are holding a press conference to put pressure on the handful of state legislators who oppose re-opening the Gansevoort waste transfer station on Manhattan’s West Side, a key component of the city‘s five-borough garbage plan.

At a press conference in City Hall’s Blue Room, Marty Markowitz said he strongly supports the move, but understands that local officials near the Gansevoort site may be facing pressure from their constituents. Bloomberg quickly sought to correct him.

Bloomberg cited Christine Quinn, who has the site in her district and who said that in the two years she’s advocated for the transfer site, she’s only gotten eight complaints from constituents.

Bloomberg said the opposition to the plan is a result of “some Assembly people who don’t want to stand up.”

Adriano Espaillat, borrowing a reference to Muhammad Ali, said this issue may turn into the “Thrilla in Albany.” Carmen Arroyo took it one step further, saying, “When I raise my voice, those four people that are against this have to listen and get out of the way.“

“For the record,” Bloomberg added, “nobody is encouraging physical violence. The allusions to fights notwithstanding.”

Who is Noach Dear?

If you read his mailer, which carries statements from Dov Hikind and Marty Markowitz, he is the most qualified civil court candidate on the ballot in Brooklyn tomorrow.

By at least one measure, though, that's not the case. His opponent, Karen Yellen, was screened by the city Bar Association and got an “approved,” rating from the organization. According to Gotham Gazette:

Dear... was not approved. The bar cited his “failure to affirmatively demonstrate that he possesses the requisite qualifications for the court for which he is a candidate.” In its editorial on the race, the New York Times reached a similar conclusion. It said that Dear’s “volatile personality and indifference to conflicts-of-interest makes him utterly unsuited for the bench.”

I called Hikind and Markowitz to have them explain the comments to me. Still waiting to hear back from Markowitz. Hikind gave me the following answer: "I think we all know quite well that many judges who were rated highly qualified by many groups in the past have found themselves indicted, are sitting in jail, who are on the bench, as you and I speak, and I think all of us would agree, leave a lot to be desired,"

He added, "The fact is, he is permitted to run. If the law was you need to practice law for X number of years before you could run, then in his case, he would not be able to run. Clearly that is not what the rules are. So he is permitted to run."

I asked him why Yellen, a judge, wasn't as qualified as Dear, who has never tried a case.

"I can’t even start answering that question and it’s right after Rosh Hashanah and I’m still keeping my vow of only saying positive things about people," he said. "So, I can’t say anything about Karen."

UPDATE: Markowitz's spokeswoman emailed over the following comment: "This candidate spent 18 years on City Council representing Brooklyn, and living in Brooklyn means he has a familiarity with our borough that his opponent does not. He is a currently a commissioner and has earned the endorsement of Senator Diane Savino, Kings County Democratic Party Chair and Assemblyman Vito Lopez, Councilman Kendall Stewart and others whom I respect. I have been assured by the candidate that as a judge he will place equal treatment, respect for diversity, and reverence for human rights above all else."  read more »

Hawaiian shirts, Two Buck Chuck and egg rolls will soon be big topics of conversation on the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Court Street in Brooklyn.

That’s right, folks: Trader Joe’s is finally coming to Brooklyn.

The borough’s first outpost of the wildly popular grocery store will sit at 130 Court Street in the Sovereign Bank building, according to a reliable source. The chain recently signed a lease for 14,500 square feet in the building, according to sources with knowledge of the deal. No word on how much Trader Joe’s will be paying, but a neighborhood broker told The Observer that retail space can go for upwards of $100 per square foot for the year.

Rumors have been floating around for months of a possible Trader Joe’s location in Brooklyn. The talk was that the chain was opening up at One Brooklyn Bridge Park, but sources say that this information was inaccurate.  read more »

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz told me outside Borough Hall this morning that he took the "first step" in running for mayor last night - with the help of none other than Mike Bloomberg. Here's how he said it went:

"It went very well. It was very generous of the mayor to hold the fund-raiser on my behalf. As you know, I have a wonderful working relationship with the mayor...I endorsed him for mayor, and everything he's done to date has just reinforced that I made the right decision.”

Did he chat with Bloomberg about the recent change on his voter registration card?

"Well let me tell you what I did do: I declared yesterday Michael Bloomberg Independence Day in New York City. That's what I declared, and I think he got a kick out of it."

At that point, half a dozen reporters at the event (which was supposed to be about efficient air conditioning) gathered around the man who says he'd be the "second shortest mayor in the city history -- and maybe one of the chubbiest."

But back to Bloomberg.  read more »

Don’t laugh. Marty Markowitz says he's considering a run for mayor in 2009.

He represents one borough already, will be term-limited in 2009. And Michael Bloomberg is having a fund-raiser for him.

But could voters take him seriously?

"Your question goes to the heart of questions I’ve asked myself,” he said. “I can’t change my personality. Nor will I! This is who I am.”  read more »

A distinctly non-serious borough president says he’s not playing.  read more »

That's Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, celebrating Brooklyn LGBT Pride on Friday with celebrity impersonator Howie V. Cher, and TV personality Clover Honey as Mae West.

It's yet another sign that Markowitz may be enjoying his job more than the rest of us. And proof, if any was needed, that although Rudy Giuliani may have trouble forgetting about his moment in drag, it hasn't dampened the fun for everyone.

On Monday, May 21, Brooklyn Borough President and Atlantic Yards super-fan Marty Markowitz replaced nine members of Community Board 6. While on its face the move seemed fairly routine, Mr. Markowitz and his allies, including City Councilman Bill de Blasio, purged the board members apparently because of their steadfast opposition to the Atlantic Yards project in central Brooklyn.  read more »

One of the odder bits of fallout to come out of the, um, change of membership at Community Board 6 is that a critic of Atlantic Yards is replacing one of the opponents who got axed this week.

Brad Lander, the director of the Pratt Center for Community Development, was nominated for a spot on the 50-member advisory board by City Council Member Bill de Blasio and appointed by Borough President Marty Markowitz, according to the board's new list (PDF).  read more »

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz won't say whether Community Board 6's votes on Atlantic Yards led to the downfall of nine of its members, but you are welcome to read between the lines. Here is his e-mailed statement, which came out this morning:  read more »

Nine members of Brooklyn’s Community Board 6 have not been reappointed to another two-year term after the board took several votes opposing the Atlantic Yards project.  read more »

A number of community board members in Brooklyn’s Brownstone Belt who voted against Atlantic Yards will not be reappointed next week, according to officials involved with the process.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, an early and ardent supporter of the housing-and-arena complex at Atlantic and Flatbush avenues, is expected to replace several Community Board 6 members when he makes appointments next week. Community Board 6 includes Park Slope, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Red Hook and last year issued a strongly worded rejection of the project proposed by private developer Forest City Ratner.

“We would like to remain optimistic that we can contribute to changes in the current plan which would accomplish the laudable goals of the project concepts. But in its current form we cannot support this project,” wrote then-board Chairman Jerry Armer in a Sept. 29, 2006, letter (PDF) to the Empire State Development Corporation, the government sponsor of the project. “We cannot possibly support the current project with the knowledge that we would be causing irreparable harm to our own communities.”  read more »

The John Whitehead who ran for City Council - as opposed to the one who got yelled at by Eliot Spitzer -- was fined $10,000 today by the city's Campaign Finance Board for “fraud and material misrepresentation.”

In total, Whitehead, who ran in the 42nd District in Brooklyn against Charles Barron in 2005, was fined $11,889.

Other fines levied today:

• Public Advocate candidate Jay Golub, $5,460, mostly for taking $27,800 over the contribution limit
• Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, $175, mostly for taking $500 over the limit
• Councilman Mike McMahon, $125, for taking a corporate contribution

For those who don't like the LIRR (or at least the transfer in Jamaica), Hampton Jitney will pilot a new service later this spring from downtown Brooklyn to the East End. There will be at least one, and maybe two, stops in the borough, according to spokeswoman Jennifer Friebely, and buses will travel to both the North and the South Forks.

The move came with the prompting of Borough President Marty Markowitz, who announced it in his spring newsletter.

- Matthew Schuerman

Today's Q poll has some predictable numbers on Bloomberg's mishandling of the school bus fiasco and snow storm parking rules.

But they also have early, early numbers on the 2009 race (advanced apologies to Jerry Skurnik and others who think it's too early to poll this):

The next mayoral election will be held in about 3 years. Who would you like to see elected Mayor in the year 2009? Michael Bloomberg 18 Hillary Clinton 4 Fernando Ferrer - Rudy Giuliani 4 Mark Green 1 Ray Kelly 1 Marty Markowitz 1 Christine Quinn 3 Chuck Schumer - Al Sharpton 1 William(Bill) Thompson 1 Anthony Weiner 2 OTHER 6 DK/NA 59

-- Azi Paybarah

Pfizer Inc. said it would shutter its Brooklyn plant as part of its "immediate priorities to drive improved performance." Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz says more than 600 jobs will be lost. Worldwide, the pharmaceutical company is eliminating 10,000 positions. - Matthew Schuerman

Here's a remarkably pungent year-end interview with Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, an Atlantic Yards Project supporter, by media outlet er he feels doesn't give the project a fair shake: Brooklyn Papers.

Here is how the interview started, according to a politely edited transcript.

Q: Did you see our banner headline on the front page this week? "APPROVED."

A: Look, The Paper, in my humble opinion -- and I have a right to criticize -- is overwhelmingly anti-[Atlantic Yards]. Not just the editorials, which you have every right to do, but the stories are tilted every freaking time. That's my humble opinion. I'm sorry, it is NOT a balanced newspaper. It's not. Editorially, you can blast away 'til Kingdom Come. But it is so overwhelmingly against Atlantic Yards. Everyone knows that if there is any way to attack the project, The Brooklyn Papers will be there to do so.

Later, according to an audio clip of the interview posted on Brooklyn Papers' website, Markowitz goes on to say:

"The truth of the matter is, it comes down to this: when you're against something, fuck it, you'll do anything you can to stop it."

-- Azi Paybarah

Saturday At 10 a.m. The National President of the NAACP, Bruce Gordon, speaks at the National Action Network offices in Harlem.

At 10:30 a.m. Queens marchers board buses at Council Member Hiram Monserrate's office: 980-17 Northern Blvd., Corona.

At noon, the march dubbed "Shopping for Justice" starts at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue and ends at 34th Street.

And at 1 p.m., The Best of Brooklyn Holiday Celebration, hosted by Marty Markowitz, takes place at the Christian Cultural Center on Flatlands Ave.

At 5 p.m., Adolfo Carrion will join clergy members and activists to "call for calm" following the police shooting of Timur Person, 19, who was killed on Wednesday. The event will take place at 1240 Walton Avenue. [added]

If you know of anything else, please feel free to utilize the comments section.

-- Azi Paybarah

Brooklyn politicos, including borough beep Marty Markowitz, broke out the spades on Wednesday at a groundbreaking ceremony celebrating the construction of a huge parking lot in Gowanus that comes with the added bonus of a Whole Foods Market -- the borough's first.

In addition to parking, the 68,000-square-foot store at the corner of Third Avenue and 3rd Street will feature "unique Brooklyn touches like egg-cream and gelato stations," according to a press release.

Thankfully, the national organic and natural foods retailer has not announced plans to include some cheesy Dominos-esque "Brooklyn Style Pizza" stand.  read more »

Read the full press release after the jump.

- Chris Shott

• If you're an average Joe at Goldman Sachs, you'll likely be grabbing a $397,707 bonus this year. And all that goes straight into your vulgar pied-a-terre fund. [Dealbreaker]
• 110 British travel agents didn't know anything about Brooklyn, so Borough Prez Marty Markowitz (at right) shed a tear. Then he told the Brits about all the great "ethnic enclaves" (and museums and restaurants) in his beloved hometown. [NY Daily News]
• But why didn't he mention Williamsburg's very first rooftop cabanas? It's a top attraction at the new Mill Building. (That's a pun.) [Brownstoner]
• Somehow Mill was robbed of Cooper-Hewitt's First Annual People's Choice Award. That honor went to the fabulous pre-fab Katrina Cottage. [Interior Design]
- Max Abelson  read more »
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