A New York City borough president’s main, if not only, responsibility is to be a cheerleader.
But for his borough, not for himself.
Brooklyn’s Marty Markowitz, for example, is a most enthusiastic booster.
Yet Markowitz plainly believes the old philosophy of “doing well” (politically) by “doing good.”
The beep is one of the biggest boosters for developer Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project in downtown Brooklyn.
Make no mistake: We’ve long thought that Atlantic Yards – which includes a new arena for the now-New Jersey Nets, as well as residential and retail space – is a good idea.
Still, the amount of money being directed from the Ratner orbit to Markowitz’ favorite nonprofits gives pause.
Since 2003, these groups – Best of Brooklyn, Inc., the Martin Luther King Concert Series and the Seaside Summer Concert Series – have raked in between $680,000 and $1,00,075 from various Ratner-affiliated companies and allies.
Last month, it was revealed that Markowitz directed no-bid city contracts worth nearly $700,000 to the aforementioned Best of Brooklyn – a disclosure raising the same questions as the City Council’s nonprofit scandal earlier this year:
To wit, Markowitz helped direct city funds to his favorite personal causes – in amounts seemingly designed to avoid an audit by the city comptroller.
In this case, the Markowitz-Ratner relationship appears to be evading city campaign-finance regulations.
Again, it’s in the best interests of New York for the Atlantic Yards project to go ahead. But whether the best interests of Beep Marty Markowitz should be part of the deal is another matter.
Markowitz, of course, is another New York politician out to bend public offices and resources to personal ends.
He’s reprehensible, in other words, but par for an exceedingly low-rent course.
What’s much less clear is why the office he holds even exists.
Markowitz has a $5 million budget, seven official cars and a staff of 84, which includes a $50,000 speechwriter, a $45,000 “proclamations writer” and three drivers – plus a “discretionary” budget (read: slush fund) of $302,000.
And what does Brooklyn get in return?
Marty Markowitz?
Banish the beeps.