Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz threw himself a lavish going-away party last night — a celeb-studded bash accompanying his two-months-late State of the Borough Address and paid for with funds from the term-limited official’s Brooklyn-boosting nonprofit.
The over-the-top event at Barclays Center arena featured appearances by Brooklyn-rooted celebrities like “Who’s the Boss” star Tony Danza, Miss America Mallory Hagan, Cat Greenleaf of “Talk Stoop” and ’60s singing star Jay Black of Jay and the Americans. There was even a brief fireworks show inside the arena.
The price tag: $150,000 to $200,000, sources said.
“The only thing this circus is missing is elephants,” said a local politician.
Markowitz spokesman John Hill maintained the event wasn’t paid for out of Markowitz’s $5 million, taxpayer-funded operating budget.
Sources said the funding came from the Beep’s nonprofit, Best of Brooklyn, intended to promote borough tourism and send kids to camp.
Best of Brooklyn has seen its coffers filled with millions of dollars through taxpayer-funded city contracts since Markowitz took office nearly 12 years ago, as well as collecting hefty donations from the private sector.
“Marty can say it’s not city taxpayer money being spent, but it’s all coming out of the same pot,” said a source. “It’s money that could have gone to [Hurricane] Sandy relief or another worthy cause rather than this fiasco.”
In previous years, he usually spent no more than $25,000 or so for State of the Boroughs hosted normally in late January or February, sources said. This year, he needed extra time to book his guests, plan the event and schedule the date around the availability of the arena.
Hill would not say if the celebs were paid to attend, but Barclays Center honchos provided Markowitz free use of the arena — just as they did Mayor Bloomberg for his State of the City address in February.
Markowitz led the push to bring the Nets to Brooklyn and build the arena, and the mayor was also a huge supporter of the plan.
“We are honored to do our civic duty,” arena spokesman Barry Baum said.