Borough President Marty Markowitz took the gloves off last week in defending both his office and the millions in public and private money given to the three non-profits that he has set up and that are run out of Borough Hall.
At the same time, Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC), the developer of the $4 billion NBA arena and 16 apartment and office buildings at the Atlantic/Flatbush avenues intersection, defended donating between $680,000 and $1,075,000 to Markowitz’s non-profits since 2003.
All told, Markowitz’s non-profits have received $2.7 million in taxpayer cash, plus several million dollars from private donations and no-bid contracts, according to several New York Post articles on the issue.
The Post also has written an editorial and stories questioning the need for a borough president position.
“My job is to bring money and services and programs to Brooklynites, and services and resources require money and it’s simple as that,” said Markowitz.
“Therefore, my work with the mayor and in the private sector has to generate programs and services that benefit Brooklynites. That’s what I was elected to do. Every penny is accounted for and not misdirected or misspent,” he added.
Markowitz pointed out, for example, that his two long-time concert series – in East Flatbush and Coney Island – are paid for largely by the non-profits and have brought stellar artists to underserved communities.
Among the artists who have appeared over the years are LL Cool J, the B-52’s, Al Green, Liza Minnelli, Julio Iglesias, Roberta Flack, Huey Lewis and the News, John Legend, Patti LaBelle, Michael Bolton, Smokey Robinson, Brian Wilson, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Anita Baker, The O’Jays, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Supremes, and Boyz II Men.
Another of the highly successful events the non-profits pay for are the highly successful Brooklyn Book Festival, which is already beginning to rival the two largest book fairs in the world – the London and Frankfurt Book Fairs.
This year’s book fair drew more than 20,000 visitors, and helped bring revenue into local businesses in Downtown Brooklyn.
“We had to raise money, $150,000, to put it on including such incidental costs as tents and advertisements. We have a little public money and a little private money [to pay for it], which is why we formed non-profit groups so we can make it happen,” said Markowitz.
Other cultural, social and health initiatives Markowitz’s nonprofit organizations pay for include the borough’s marketing of restaurants, tourism campaigns, camps and summer employment for kids, and Take Your Man to the Doctor and Lighten Up Brooklyn.
“I’m an activist and like to get things done, and that’s what I’m about, period,” said Markowitz.
FCRC spokesperson Joe DePlasco said the corporation believes in supporting arts and cultural programming in the borough it has called home for over 25 years.
“FCRC is very proud to support the free concert series and the Best of Brooklyn. It is the right thing to do and we’re honored to help out,” said DePlasco.
DePlasco noted that FCRC also supports BAM, The Children’s Museum, Prospect Park Alliance, the Brooklyn Museum of Art and hundreds of other non-profits in the arts, culture, education, sports and recreation throughout the borough.
Markowitz said that aside form the non-profit issue, the borough presidents play a crucial role in advocating for their respective boroughs, which in his case means about 2.6 million people.
“You have a mayor who sits at City Hall, and whose overview is the entire city, and the City Council, whose members are concerned with what goes on in their district,” said Markowitz.
“The position of the borough president is to catalogue, coordinate and present an agenda that impacts the entire borough. Our main job is to make sure that both the City Council and the mayor direct attention and allocation of funding for the advancement of Brooklyn,” he added.
Markowitz said, for example, that he distributed some $88.7 million in capital allocations from the recent city capital budget, in which he was able to spread the money where it was most needed in a holistic fashion.
