April 12, 2008: Vol. 31, No. 15

Bruce Ratner got the award, but Borough President Markowitz’s wife got the goods.

In the waning moments of last Thursday’s Brooklyn Museum gala, which honored Ratner, Jamie Markowitz scooped up eight placemats designed by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and intended as parting gifts for the 1,000 Museum patrons in attendance.

One to a customer, not eight.

“Without a doubt, the person who got the most out of [the] opening was Jamie,” quipped Radar Online, which broke the story last week. The Web site claimed that the limited-addition candy-colored placemats have “fetched up to $1,000 on eBay after similar events” and suggested that Markowitz had snatched them because she was “perhaps sensing a business opportunity.”

And the funny thing is, nothing could be closer to the truth.

“It’s a little true,” Markowitz admitted to the Daily News on Sunday.

Later, her red-faced husband explained that there had been a misunderstanding and that five of the six remaining placemats — Markowitz’s wife gave away two placemats before leaving the gala, a Borough Hall spokesman said — would be auctioned to raise money for the borough president’s Camp Brooklyn charity.

“These were gifts for guests and there was no discussion of their value,” the Beep said. “If they’re really worth what the Radar blogger claims — $1,000 each — we will make five available at this year’s Camp Brooklyn fundraising event, and, if they sell, that means 10 more low-income kids can go to camp.”

©2008 The Brooklyn Paper