How sordid are the goings on at Borough Hall? So bad that a group of Buddhist monks showed up on Wednesday to perform a purification dance.
The monks, who live in a Himalayan fortress monastery in remote Bhutan, were in Brooklyn mostly to promote an art exhibition at a Manhattan gallery — but who could resist a chance to chase the evil demons from our county seat?
“We will be here for 12 days,” said Pema Dendup, an actual real live buddhist monk, suggesting that lots more purification could be forthcoming.
The monks’ first foray into the Western World has understandably brought a few surprises, and perhaps even some greater wisdom. They did not know, for example, that there are so many people in the world.
“They think the top few floors of the tallest buildings are all empty, because there can’t be enough people to fill them all,” said the monks’ handler, Jessica Cioffoletti.
They have also been confounded by the occasional doorknob, which are apparently unknown in Bhutan.
But the trip all seemed to pay off on Wednesday, when the monks’ bright costumes and whirling dance routines brought a hundred or so spectators to the steps of Borough Hall.
How successful was the mission to clean up Brooklyn’s seat of power? Unclear, given that Borough President Markowitz, who presides over the building, wasn’t there at the time.
Too bad.
