Brooklyn gets opulence, Queens gets crap

James loved hotel after campaign contributions

From DNA Info:

Letitia James received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions last year from two real estate entrepreneurs hoping to build a hotel on city land in Brooklyn — and just three days after pocketing their donations, she penned a glowing letter on their behalf to city officials deciding on the proposal, records show.

Macro Sea and 21c were competing against other developers for the right to build on land in Fort Greene overseen by the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Macro Sea and 21c proposed constructing and operating a boutique hotel with a 24-hour contemporary art museum on the site known as BAM North II.

In Letitia James' missive, written on her City Council letterhead, she addressed Belt but sent it to then-HPD commissioner Mathew Wambua, whose agency would ultimately choose the wining proposal. The letter was included in Macro Sea and 21c's proposal package, which they formally submitted to HPD on Feb. 1, 2013.

James also sent a copy of the letter to Robert Steel, the city's then-deputy mayor for economic development, and to then-Borough President Marty Markowitz.

"A 21c Museum Hotel, with its unique sense of design and community involvement, would be a great addition to New York City and the borough," wrote James, who as a councilwoman represented the area up for development.

James added that the hotel "would bring a new energy to the burgeoning creative character of the surrounding area, and will support neighborhood institutions." She also wrote that the hotel "would bring much needed jobs to the local workforce."

Just days before sending the letter, James received $3,000 from Belt on Jan. 10 and Jan. 11, according to campaign finance records. Greenberg also donated $1,000 to her campaign on Jan. 8, records show. Belt also gave $1,000 to James' campaign on June 23, 2012.

James spokeswoman Aja Davis said in a statement that the public advocate did not make choices based on campaign donations.

James' support for the hotel was surprising because the need for more housing in the city had been a central theme of her campaign.

DeBlasio hires Markowitz for tourism gig

From Crains:

Marty Markowitz may be synonymous with Brooklyn as the borough's former president for 12 years, but now he will be paid to crow about Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx as well.

Mr. Markowitz was snatched up by the city's tourism bureau, NYC & Company, as its vice president for borough promotion and engagement. It is a new position.

"He will be an outstanding asset as NYC & Company looks to further build on its efforts to expand five-borough tourism and encourage more travel to every corner of our city," said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement.

Bloomberg, Markowitz screw over Coney Island one last time

From A Walk in the Park:

Under cover of darkness a beloved community garden in Coney Island was bulldozed beginning at 5am Saturday morning to make way for Marty Markowitz's $ 53 million dollar amphitheater. The developer – iStar – destroyed 16 years of a community gardening effort.

A developer bulldozed a beloved community garden in Coney Island on Saturday to make way for an amphitheater — uprooting 20 chickens on a decades-old plot that survived Hurricane Sandy.

Construction workers entered the Boardwalk Garden under the cover of darkness and chucked tools and wheelbarrows, along with farm fowl and a colony of feral cats, activists say.

The chickens were placed in pet carriers on the sidewalk and the felines were left fending for themselves.

“They destroyed life!” fumed tearful volunteer Elena Voitsenko, 60, a Russian immigrant who told The Post she’ll take in the birds until they find a new home.

“‎I came to America to escape from the communist regime,” she added. “This is more than the communist regime! They came at 4 in the morning.”

Workers razed the sprawling, 70,000-square-foot garden on West 22nd Street about a week after the City Council approved plans to convert the empty Childs Restaurant and its adjacent land into a 5,000-seat venue.

The $53 million project was trumpeted by outgoing Borough President Marty Markowitz, who tried previously to build a controversial amphitheater in Asser Levy Park in 2009.

Under the new plan, the city will buy the Childs building from iStar Financial and turn it into a restaurant and concert venue. The adjacent garden is slated to become a seating area.

The community board voted against the project in September, and locals have railed against turning the historic property into a noisy venue.

It's good to be Borough President!

From the New York World:

They have grandiose titles, but the city’s five borough presidents are actually invested with little power by the city charter. Blame the U.S. Supreme Court, which 24 years ago said it was undemocratic for tiny Staten Island and massive Queens have equal voting power, and forced the end of the once powerful Board of Estimate.

Candidates are nonetheless swirling to replace the four beeps who are being term limited out of office this year, in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island. So far they’ve convinced donors to throw more than $5.3 million their way, and are poised to qualify for nearly $1 million in public matching funds.

Why would anyone want a job whose power appears so slim? Maybe it’s because borough presidents have grown highly creative in finding ways to wield what relatively little they’ve got. Sometimes, they’ve accomplished great things for their communities. And sometimes for themselves.

The new crew can learn from the moves of veteran masters:

1. Make nice with developers
2. Clean up Sin City
3. Bank on the capital budget
4. Be king or queen of your own nonprofit
5. Nerd out
6. Why show up at all? Just take a vacation!

Each motive is explained in the article.

Take our soccer stadium - Please!

From the NY Post:

He stole the Nets from New Jersey and the Islanders from Long Island — and now he’s after the new soccer franchise trying to set up shop in Queens.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz wants Major League Soccer to drop its plan to build a pro-soccer stadium in Flushing Meadows Park, and instead field a team in the “greener pastures” of his borough.

The Beep says no place on earth can compete with the cachet of the Brooklyn brand — and claims the Borough of Kings is filled with more soccer-starved fans than its neighbor to the east.

“I know Queens is pushing for a stadium, but I believe pro soccer belongs here in Brooklyn,” Markowitz said following a ceremony marking the opening of three new sports fields in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

“Soccer is the Number 1 sport in the world, so why shouldn’t we have a team here in Brooklyn?”

He suggested East New York or Brownsville, saying both struggling neighborhoods could use the economic boost and have the empty land and transportation access needed. He also mentioned East Williamsburg and Bushwick.

Queens Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., called it a declaration of war.

“Brooklyn is already in the process of stealing our . . . Civic Virtue statue and moving it to Green-Wood Cemetery, so what’s next, the Mets?” he fired back. “I better go and lock up the Unisphere.”

Vallone has yet to take a position on whether Flushing Meadows is the best place in Queens for a 25,000-seat soccer stadium, saying he has concerns about the use of existing parkland.

Queens isn't pushing for a stadium. Its lobbyist $$$-fed pols are (see above Vallone quote). As far as most are concerned you can have it, Marty.

Bloomberg says no to National Guard request because they carry guns

From The Brooklyn Paper:

Mayor Bloomberg has snubbed Borough President Markowitz’s impassioned plea to bring the National Guard to Hurricane Sandy-scarred Brooklyn — arguing that approving the Beep’s request would be a waste of federal manpower and turn the borough into a police state.

“We don’t need it,” Mayor Bloomberg said on Wednesday during a press update on the city’s ongoing Hurricane Sandy cleanup. “The NYPD is the only people we want on the street with guns.”

Markowitz demanded the National Guard’s help just an hour before Bloomberg’s press conference, claiming that the NYPD and FDNY are “brave — but overwhelmed” by all the challenges Sandy brought when it visited the borough on Monday night: flooding, power outages, and looting.

“All of our resources have been stretched to the limit,” Markowitz said. “In the name of public safety we need to send more National Guard personnel into Coney Island, Manhattan Beach, Gerritsen Beach, Red Hook, and any other locations.”

Markowitz hopes that the sight of an armed soldier would deter criminal activity in the still-unaccessible evacuation zones — such as the rash of break-ins that took place in Coney Island hours after Sandy kissed the borough goodbye — but the Mayor said the NYPD was more than capable of handling the job.

“There are plenty of locations upstate and in surrounding states where they don’t have a police department the size of New York and they can use help [from the National Guard],” said Bloomberg.

Marty wants Coney casino

From The Brooklyn Paper:

Borough President Markowitz wants to see casinos on Coney Island if Gov. Cuomo makes good on his plan to legalize table gaming in the state.

“Casino gambling ... would bring jobs and revenue to potential locations in New York City, especially Coney Island, which is a natural,” Markowitz said in a release.

In the latest lofty vision for a revitalized Coney Island, gambling would help draw visitors to an area that the city hopes to turn into a glitzy, year-round recreation destination boasting amusements, restaurants, arcades and hotels.

But other community leaders say casinos are too much of a gamble to endorse.

“I just want to make sure that people in the community don’t get hurt,” said Councilman Dominic Recchia (D–Coney Island) “People get addicted to gambling; it’s a problem.”

Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz (D–Sheepshead Bay) cited a 1999 study that found areas within 50 miles of casinos have a 50 percent greater instance of gambling addiction and an 18 percent higher bankruptcy rate.

Marty knows how to milk 'em

From the NY Times:

New York City has adopted some of the strictest rules in the nation to curb the influence of money in politics. Donors with business before it are all but barred from contributing to officials in the city’s campaign finance system.

Yet in recent years, Mr. Markowitz has found another way to tap into those donors. He has established a network of four charities that has reaped at least $20 million since 2003, and probably more, according to interviews and an analysis of city records.

That amount — remarkable for any local politician, let alone one who does not hold citywide office — is a testament to Mr. Markowitz’s stature as a Brooklyn power broker and to his intense focus on building these nonprofit groups. They have in turn played an important role in burnishing his public profile.

The donors to the nonprofit groups range from huge corporations like Wal-Mart and TD Bank to local entrepreneurs, but they usually have one thing in common: They have a stake in city legislation, real estate projects, zoning disputes and other Brooklyn issues.

Mr. Markowitz has often personally cajoled wealthy executives to give tens of thousands of dollars at a time to his nonprofit groups. Some recalled that he was relentless, seemingly unable to take no for an answer.

His nonprofit network is so intertwined with his office that anyone who wants to hold events in Brooklyn Borough Hall, a stately Greek Revival building on Joralemon Street, pays a fee to one of the charities, Best of Brooklyn, not to the city. Those fees in recent years have totaled nearly $200,000, records show.

Electioneering on the taxpayers' dime

From the NY Post:

[Congressional candidate Bob] Turner blasted [Marty] Markowitz for giving Turner's Democratic opponent -- Queens Assemblyman David Weprin -- the chance to address thousands of spectators before the Aretha Franklin concert in Coney Island last night and denying Turner equal time.

"This is 100 percent electioneering with the taxpayer money," fumed Turner spokesman Bill O'Reilly.

Markowitz admitted that he extended a stage invitation to Weprin -- whose Assembly seat does not cover any part of Brooklyn -- because the assemblyman's a congressional candidate.

But Markowitz said last night he's willing to allow Turner to address spectators at one of the two remaining summer concerts, either next Thursday or Aug. 18.

Kelly for mayor?

From NY1:

While he has never publicly expressed an interest in running, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly is a top choice to be the next mayor.

According to a new Quinnipiac University Poll, he has the support of 23 percent of city voters in an early look at the 2013 mayoral race.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn comes in second with 18 percent, followed by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and City Comptroller John Liu.

If Kelly was not in the race, 23-percent of voters say they would back Quinn.

The poll was conducted from July 19th to the 25th with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.

Markowitz travel was conflict of interest

From the NY Times:

When Brooklyn’s borough president, Marty Markowitz, took trips to Turkey and the Netherlands on official city business several years ago, he also accepted free travel expenses for his wife, Jamie Markowitz.

The city’s Conflicts of Interest Board deemed it an ethical violation and fined him $20,000, according to the findings released on Monday.

The travel covered two trips to Turkey, one in 2007 and another in 2009, and a trip to the Netherlands in 2009, which the board estimated were worth at least $11,000, though not substantially more in free travel expenses for Mrs. Markowitz. “By accepting travel expenses for his wife for each trip,” the board said in its findings, Mr. Markowitz “used his position as a public servant for private or personal advantage. Simply put, his wife was able to travel with him abroad — for free.”

This is the second ethics fine Mr. Markowitz has racked up this year. In February, the board docked him $2,000 for using his chief of staff as his lawyer at a 2009 real estate closing.

Walmart donation is sweet music to Marty's ears

From the NY Post:

Walmart is suddenly making sweet music with Brooklyn Beep Marty Markowitz -- once a staunch critic of the megastore's plans to break ground in the borough.

The retail giant -- angling to open in a planned East New York development -- has now cozied up to Markowitz by becoming a corporate sponsor of his summer Martin Luther King Jr. concert series.

"Walmart has been very generous in supporting events and initiatives throughout the city," Markowitz said.

"I am not philosophically opposed to Walmart but I have been consistent in demanding they show a commitment to Brooklyn by paying a fair wage, offering health benefits [and] using union workers in any construction projects in New York City," he said.

That's a dramatic shift from 2009, when a Markowitz aide wrote a scathing critique of Walmart in official documents.

"It is well known that stores such as Walmart have questionable labor practices and adversely affect neighborhood retailers," the aide wrote.

"Given that Costco is operating on two levels in Sunset Park, additional legal assurances are needed so that Related Companies or any successor will not lease to the likes of Costco, Walmart or Sam's Club," the aide wrote.

New taxis to be made in Mexico

From Lost City:

A big, bulbous, boxy minivan? That's what the winner of a taxi competition is, the Nissan NV200...

Nissan beat out Karsan, a Turkish company that was going to make a vehicle capable of running on an electric-only engine, and pledged to build the cars in Brooklyn. Nissan will build theirs in Mexico. (Another suspicion confirmed: Bloomberg doesn't care about the welfare of the outer boroughs, and isn't interested in any industries in New York beyond finance, construction and tourism.)

Additionally, there are already calls for an investigation of a conflict of interest in the contract-letting. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and Assembly member Micah Kellner. A consultant in the competition, Ricardo Inc., has had past dealings with Nissan, a former client.

Community Boards are "just advisory"

From The Brooklyn Paper:

The City Council voted last week to rezone a vacant Wythe Avenue lot in Williamsburg, paving the way for a new six-story apartment complex near S. Second Street that will includes the latest clubhouse of Manhattan tastemaker Taavo Somer, co-owner of the Lower East Side restaurant Freeman’s and West Village hangout The Rusty Knot.

The Council’s nod is a reversal of the community board’s recommendation to reduce the number of units on the site. Borough President Markowitz and the City Planning Commission had signed off on the plan, which will include two buildings, one with 59 market-rate units and the other containing 18 below-market rate units.

Since no one in America fell for it...

These videos created to market the Atlantic Yards project to foreign investors - or should I say people who are being bribed with green cards in return for investing in this debacle - are really something else...



From Atlantic Yards Report:

Markowitz claims, incredibly, "Brooklyn is 1000 percent, 1000 percent behind Atlantic Yards."

He knows that's false. But it could help save Forest City Ratner some $191 million under the dubious exploitation of a federal program in which immigrant investors get green cards for themselves and their families in exchange for purportedly job-creating investments.

Markowitz closes by asserting that "there's nothing better than China and Brooklyn together."

There's some irony there, given that the version shown here is subtitled in Korean.

Meanwhile, the City apparently lured Caribbean teachers here with promises of green cards and never delivered on it.

Brooklyn pols support money launderer

From the NY Post:

A Brighton Beach-connected international money launderer — who worked under the European equivalent of John Gotti — counts ranking New York politicians among his friends.

A trio of powerhouse politicos is coming to the aid of Nikolai Dozortsev: state Sen. Carl Kruger, Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny, and even Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. The elected officials all sent letters on his behalf to the Brooklyn federal court judge who will sentence Dozortsev later this week.

Dozortsev – a twice-convicted felon with a criminal career spanning two decades – was the money man for a violent organized crime syndicate. The group’s illegal activities in the U.S. and Europe easily exceeded $50 million a year, officials say.

He worked alongside the legendary European mob boss Ricardo Fanchini, and faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced.

But Brook-Krasny calls Dozortsev a man "of integrity and strong moral fiber" in a letter written on Assembly letterhead and addressed to the judge presiding over the case.

Kruger, another Brighton pol, who sits on the state Senate’s Crime Victims and Crime and Corrections committees, urged Judge Frederic Block to kindly "take under consideration" the assistance Dozortsev and his family has given to other immigrants from Russia settling in New York.

Markowitz wrote Block a letter praising the character of Dozortsev’s parents and explaining that although he had never met "Nick," he hopes their qualities had been passed on to him.

P.S. Pedro Espada's been indicted.

Marty's in-compliance concert sucked

From the Brooklyn Paper:

Angry patrons of Borough President Markowitz’s Seaside Concert series in Coney Island were fuming over the city’s noise crackdown at the controversial venue, where a new law kept performer’s voices — and their jams — at a whisper Thursday night.

“It’s like music on mute!” said Louis Perez of Sunset Park, who didn’t have to raise his voice while standing in the middle of Asser Levy Seaside Park. “The performers should start doing sign language!”

For the second week in a row, the volume was turned down because the concerts — which have been held at the venue since 1991 — now must conform to a law that demands the music not exceed 10-decibels above the normal street sound level near two synagogues facing the park.

“This is terrible!” said Lillian Rowlett, who was “listening” with family and friends. “We can’t hear anything, we don’t know what’s going on.”

At times, it seemed that even the performers were having trouble hearing, as they were often wildly off-key.

And several times during the show, when performers asked the audience, “How do you feel Brooklyn?” the crowd replied with resounding boos. At another point, a performer asked, “Can you hear me?” The crowd unanimously replied, “No!”

Markowitz did not hide his irritation with the new rules when addressing the audience.

“We’re under terrible constraint,” Markowitz said. “We didn’t ask for this, it’s being imposed on us. Next year, we’ll get this straightened out one way or another, we’re so sorry.”

The “10-decibel law” was a last-minute measure pushed through the City Council by Mayor Bloomberg in June as a way to keep the concerts going this summer after it was discovered that the shows had, for years, been in violation of a law that prohibited amplified music within 500 feet of a house of worship.

As it turned out, the concerts could not even adhere to the new law.

"One of the points that was left out by this reporter was that this was the FIRST time in the history of Marty giving his summer concerts that he actually LEFT the concert before it was over. He was so pissed off. Other have said he was actually crying about the situation. He doesn't realize that he was at fault & his promoter. It was his buddies (Councilman Recchia & others) that passed the new law & Mayor Bloomberg signed it into law. Marty is a serial violator of the law - violating the old 500 foot rule (for over 19 years) & the new rules. Markowitz still doesn't get it: An 8000 seat amphitheater in a bedroom community just won't work out well." - anonymous

City can't abide by its own noise code

From the Daily News:

Tests showed Borough President Marty Markowitz's summer concerts again broke the city's new amplified sound law, but Thursday night's Latino Music by the Sea Concert - the last show of the season - will be allowed to go on.

Opponents went to court to block the concert after their sound expert found last week's B-52s concert got as loud as 23.6 decibels louder than normal sound levels - while the law only allows it to get 10 decibels higher.

Organizers turned the music down so low some audience members complained they could barely hear it. Still, the lowered volume wasn't within legal limits.

The city had vowed to crack down on the concerts after previous tests showed violations at shows by George Thorogood and the Destroyers and John Legend.

But after hours of negotiations Wednesday, opponents settled for an agreement that will allow tonight's show to go on while slapping more restrictions on the city.

"We would have preferred that the concerts be stopped, but we're not vindictive people," said Ida Sanoff, calling the agreement "fair."

If the sound levels exceed permitted levels tonight and isn't quickly lowered, officials are supposed to cut off the amplified sound system or end the concert altogether.

The city also will fork over $2,750 to pay for the plaintiffs' sound expert, and could get hit with all their legal fees if two or more violations are recorded.

Marty living large overseas

From the NY Times:

Marty Markowitz, the Brooklyn borough president, reported not one, but two, international trips last year, one of many revelations contained in financial disclosure forms that the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board released on Tuesday.

Over four days in March 2009, Mr. Markowitz’s form for 2009 disclosed, he was a guest of the “Kingdom of Netherlands,” a trip that had been arranged by the consul general at a cost ranging between $5,000 and $39,999. The trip’s official purpose, according to the form, was to represent the City of New York at “NY 400: Made in Holland 1609,’’ described as “the Netherlands official celebration of their 400 year relationship with New York.”

He also accepted a five-day trip to Turkey in November as a guest of the Federation of Turkish American Associations. That trip was also said to have cost $5,000 to $39,999, between airfare and lodging. It was described as being a “working trip to develop sister-city status with Izmir, Turkey — socio-economic relations, secure new ways of working, develop multi-purpose collaborations and strengthen relations.”

The prior year, his disclosure forms showed him taking a “working trip” to Israel as a guest of the state’s Ministry of Tourism. The intent of that trip, he wrote, was “to honor Brooklyn’s connection to Israel and reaffirm our support of its goals, as well as to promote tourism between Israel and Brooklyn – encouraging Israelis to visit Brooklyn just as we encourage Brooklyn travelers of every background to consider experiencing the beauty and rich history of Israel.”

A spokesman for Mr. Markowitz said the trip to the Netherlands had many sponsors and celebrated long-standing “ties between New York (and by extension Brooklyn) and the Netherlands.” He said the trip to Turkey came about when the borough president was invited to speak at the ninth annual “World Congress of Councils Conference.”

Photo from the Politicker