Since 2002, borough president Marty Markowitz has been Brooklyn’s biggest (and occasionally most controversial) cheerleader. The energetic Crown Heights native has overseen an urban transformation that includes the rezoning of Williamsburg and Greenpoint, the building of the Atlantic Yards project and the opening of the Brooklyn cruise ship terminal. This is his Brooklyn.
1. Prospect Park, Brooklyn
“My wife and I enjoy walking there. There’s always something to see, whether it’s the 19th-century buildings that used to be people’s homes or the brooks that are there. It’s really fascinating to get off the main drives and get into the depth of the park.”
2. Toomey’s Diner, 252 Empire Blvd., at Rogers Avenue
“This is really the only thing left from my neighborhood when I was growing up, but it’s not what it was. It predates some of what we know as diners across the country. It was a place that used to be jampacked before and after Dodgers games. But all of the restaurants I knew as a child are gone. Our Jewish kosher-style delis are gone, the German bakeries are gone.”
3. Markowitz’s childhood home, 441 Brooklyn Ave., at Empire Boulevard
“We had a very miserable landlord. He cheaped on heat and hot water. The first [political] stuff I got involved in was organizing tenants to fight for housing. I learned from that building. In terms of an environment, it was a different world and a different place. People really looked out for each other. It wasn’t as hustle-bustle as it is today. Ethnic diversity, while it was there, was nothing like today. Also, great wealth and great poverty wasn’t as prominent as it is today.”
4. Junior’s, 386 Flatbush Ave., at DeKalb Avenue
“I’ve been going here since I was 15 or 16 years old. That’s a lot of years. I’m 68 now. I’ve had a lifelong affair with Junior’s for so many reasons and so many dishes. I like the twin onion rolls with brisket and white-meat turkey. If I eat anything more, I get myself into trouble with my wife. Then, of course, they have the cheesecake. My favorite is the devil’s food cheesecake.”
5. Barclays Center, 620 Atlantic Ave., at Flatbush Avenue
“I was at the Jay-Z show here. I did not understand most of it. I respect him enormously as an artist, but it’s not my music. Barbra Streisand is someone whom I grew up with, though she’s a couple of years older than me, and she was here. But of all the entertainers and groups, The Beatles had the most impact on my life and the most impact on America. So the best show is yet to come: Paul McCartney.”
6. Belt Parkway Promenade, Belt Parkway at 69th Street
“Very few Brooklynites, except those who live in Bay Ridge, ever go on the Belt Parkway Promenade. It’s a long stretch where you’re facing Staten Island, and it’s truly beautiful, right by the water. You can bike or, in my case, walk. For a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, it’s really lovely. When you’ve got troubles or things to work out, you can take in the beauty. It’s very impressive.”
7. The River Café, 1 Water St., near Old Fulton Street, reopens later this year after closure due to Hurricane Sandy
“Any night, if I’ve got meetings and I have a little time, my wife and I will go to the River Café and have a drink at the bar. It’s got to be one of the most scenic restaurants and bars. In the evening on weekends, they have a piano player. It’s quite lovely to go in there, have a drink, look out over the East River and watch the tugboats go by, look at the majesty of the Brooklyn Bridge — and it’s a sight to behold always, I don’t care how many years you live here. It’s good, and you’ll say how lucky you are to live in this great city, and for me, to live in Brooklyn.”
8. Brooklyn Cyclones game, MCU Park, 1904 Surf Ave., at West 17th Street
“It’s beautiful and a great thing to enjoy, especially if you have children or grandchildren to take. I don’t have any. I do have a bird, but I don’t think he’d appreciate me taking him. Certainly for a lot of parents — the yuppies and the hipsters — let’s just say the stroller derby is alive and well there at the Cyclones games.”
9. Celebrity Path at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1000 Washington Ave., at President Street
“It was started by my predecessor Howard Golden, and we’ve carried it on more or less since I’ve been borough president. It’s something that even people in Brooklyn don’t know about. It’s interesting to see all the celebrities and personalities and entertainers that were Brooklyn-born. Richie Havens was Brooklyn-born, and so was Michael Jordan. Plus, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon. The list goes on and on.”