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Community Corner

Markowitz Puts on a State of the Borough Spectacle

There was the stream of endless shout outs — and even a pole dancer — during the Borough President's annual address.

What do a “senior cycle,” a football team, a pole dancer and the mayor have in common? They all made appearances at Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz’s 2011 State of the Borough Address last night.

After riding in on a bike he called his “senior cycle,” Markowitz spent about 90 minutes talking about jobs and the wonders of Brooklyn before finishing his show with a performance – ostensibly to promote physical fitness – by a Bay Ridge pole dancing instructor. 

Though the speech was full of gimmicks and gags, the borough president touched upon controversial topics, including bicycle lanes, the Atlantic Yards project and the decision this week to close more than two dozen schools, including M.S. 571 in Prospect Heights, the vote for which  as Markowitz's speech.

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“For Brooklyn, not even the sky’s the limit,” Markowitz said early in his address, as a picture of astronaut Garrett Reisman, who carried a Brooklyn pin into space, appeared on the large screen behind him. The invite-only audience laughed loudly at the pun, as they did at most of Markowitz’s many jokes.

Though the long speech – the text of which filled 18 single-spaced pages – was full of gags, the borough president gave brief mention to controversial topics.

After jokingly referring to the front of the theater as the Department of Transportation’s newest bike lane, Markowitz later said that Prospect Park West’s recently installed lane is an eyesore and a hazard for pedestrians.

“I’m not even against bike lanes,” Markowitz said.  He then added, “But for the majority of New Yorkers, it is simply not feasible to make bicycles their primary mode of transport.”

Markowitz’s continuing criticism of bike lanes, not to mention his opening cycle stunt, upset some bike advocates.

“Every week people are dying and being seriously injured on Brooklyn streets,” Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, said.  “What is
Marty's response?  Bad jokes and roadblocks for safer street designs. Brooklyn deserves better.”

But Markowtiz didn't just bash bikes. Throughout the address, the borough president mentioned jobs often — more than 45 times.

“We need jobs, jobs, jobs,” Markowitz said, “right here, right now.”

He went on to list the various ways that his office is trying to connect citizens with jobs: job fairs, jobs for teens, restaurant jobs, hotel jobs, retail jobs, arts jobs and construction jobs, to name a few.

Markowitz also announced another job-spurring initiative: a new business incubator to be built in Central Brooklyn using $1 million of the borough’s capital funds. The incubator would be designed for local entrepreneurs who aspire to found a food-related company, but lack the startup funds.

The borough president also lauded the Atlantic Yards development at Atlantic and Flatbush avenues, which he said would be an economic boon to Brooklyn.

“After seven years of planning and legal fights,” Markowitz said, “construction on the first phase of the Atlantic Yards project finally got underway, which means thousands of union jobs and an anchor for a rejuvenated downtown.”

But Markowitz touched only briefly on the controversial issues, preferring to focus — as he usually does — on his native borough’s many wonders.

“If you’re looking for anything artisanal, sustainable, locally grown or made by hand, Brooklyn’s got it,” Markowitz said.

He noted that the borough is a major tourist destination – more than 15 million visitors from almost 60 countries last year, he said. It is also, he repeated at various parts of the speech: “a brand unto itself,” the “creative epicenter of New York City” and “hands down” the city’s greenest borough.

Markowitz made sure to recognize many of Brooklyn’s movers and shakers.

Tupper Thomas, the recently-retired founder of Prospect Park Alliance, drew the borough president’s praise and much applause. Park Sloper Melissa Vaughan, the co-author of “New Brooklyn Cookbook” got a shout out, as did Deb Malkin, owner of Re/Dress NYC, a boutique in Boerum Hill for plus-size women.

Near the end of the speech, as the giant screen behind Markowitz lit up with yet another photo of the borough president posing with a famous, beautiful woman, he shrugged and said, “What can I say?  There are certain pleasures in my job that are not indictable.”

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