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Borough President Markowitz is back from his free ride on the Queen Mary 2 — and the trip was all legit, according to the city.
The cruise-loving Beep returned on Thursday after a six-day cruise given to him by the Cunard Line, which started berthing the world’s largest passenger ship at a Red Hook pier last year.
Normal people pay up to $23,399 for the trans-Atlantic pleasure cruise, according to Cunard. But not Markowitz; he could take the gift from the cruise line as long as he was working for a “city purpose” while on board, according to the Conflicts of Interest Board, which monitors transactions between elected officials and companies with which the city does business.
Markowitz was certainly working hard for the free ride: after all, the board required him to “present three lectures to the passengers about tourism opportunities in Brooklyn” and have “informal onboard interactions” with passengers.
In other words, take a normal day at the office for the borough’s cheerleader in chief — and put it on a boat!
City ethics watchdog Dick Dadey of the Citizens Union said Markowitz did the right thing by telling city officials in advance about the free cruise (or tourism-generating business trip, as Markowitz referred to it).
“No doubt, this is a nice little perk for an office that has few perks,” Dadey said. “We should all have a job that allows for the occasional cruise trip.”
The conflicts board also required Markowitz to pay all expenses when not on the boat — and cover his wife’s travel bills.
©2007 The Brooklyn Paper
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