The king of Kings now has his eye on all five boroughs.
Marty Markowitz is “strongly considering” a run for mayor in 2013, sources close to the Brooklyn borough president told The Post.
“He’s very serious about it but will take the summer to think it over,” one source said.
With Rep. Anthony Weiner sexting himself out of New York’s mayoral race, political experts say the door is wide open for Markowitz to mount a successful campaign.
They say Markowitz’s enormous popularity in Brooklyn — whose 2.6 million residents are the most of the city’s five boroughs –and among minority voters are good starting points.
“He’s very colorful and attracts voters of all kinds — and he can raise money,” said veteran political analyst Hank Sheinkopf.
Markowitz, 66, has yet to set up a mayoral campaign committee to raise funds. But he recently hired a new communications director, Jon Paul Lupo, who has helped run major campaigns in four other states, including for two US senators.
As of Jan. 15, Markowitz had $896,046 on hand in a citywide campaign fund.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) so far leads the pack of potential mayoral candidates with $2.7 million. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is second, with $1.9 million combined in two campaign accounts.
Other potential Democratic mayoral candidates include city Comptroller John Liu, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and former city Comptroller Bill Thompson.
Markowitz previously served as a state senator for 23 years before being elected borough president in November 2001. He is prevented by term limits from seeking re-election in 2013. As borough president, he played a major role in the opening of the Red Hook cruise terminal, attracting new development to Downtown Brooklyn and Coney Island, and convincing the NBA’s Nets to move into a new Prospect Heights arena beginning next year.
“Brooklyn itself is a great brand name, and its amazing Renaissance goes hand-in-hand with Marty being borough president. He’d make a great mayor,” said Peter Meyer, chairman of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors.
However, Markowitz has also infuriated his share of constituents, including bike activists over his opposition of a bike lane at Prospect Park West. And opponents of the controversial Atlantic Yards project, which includes the arena, regularly ridicule him for being its biggest booster.
Doug Muzzio, a political-science professor at Baruch College, said Markowitz’s “great sense of humor” and being a “cheerleader” might only go so far with voters.
“He’ll have to convince the rest of the city that he has strong administrative and government experience,” Muzzio said.
In 2008, before term limits were extended so Mayor Bloomberg could capture a third term, Markowitz in early polls led all potential Democratic mayoral candidates — including Weiner, Quinn and Thompson. A March 2008 Quinnipiac poll even had black voters favoring Markowitz over Thompson, who, unlike Markowitz, eventually ran for mayor before losing to Bloomberg in 2009.