Brooklyn and Vienna’s Leopoldstadt district have a lot in common: Jews, high-fat foods and leaders with an eye on the future.
And now, these two “outer” boroughs are forever joined, thanks to a “district partnership” inked this week by Borough President Markowitz and Vienna Deputy Mayor Renate Brauner.
Markowitz took a page from President John F. Kennedy and pronounced himself “Ich bin ein Wiener” — “I am a citizen of Vienna” — though he pronounced it with a Brooklyn, not German, accent. (See chart)
He gave Brauner, a rising star in Viennese politics, a model of the Brooklyn Bridge. In exchange, Brauner gave Markowitz, who believes he is a rising star in New York politics, a crystal statuette of Vienna’s civic symbol and a box of Viennese chocolates.
The dieting Markowitz paused before accepting the sweets — and then dragged a Brooklyn Paper reporter into the fray.
“Look,” he said, “you can write whatever you want about Atlantic Yards, but don’t report that I took the chocolate. This is personal. Jamie [Markowitz’s wife] will kill me.”
A contingent of Brooklyn Jewish leaders were also on hand to welcome Brauner. Leopoldstadt, which, like Brooklyn, is on the right bank of the city’s main river, was the center of Viennese Jewish life at the time of the Holocaust.
As part of the partnership deal, Brauner invited Markowitz on a fact-finding mission to Vienna, but the Beep demurred, again citing a Brooklyn Paper reporter.
“We have very strong ethics rules here, which is a good thing, or else The Brooklyn Paper would call it a junket!” he said.
