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Brooklyn Borough president leads a new battle of the bulge

Lighten Up Brooklyn!

Borough President Marty Markowitz hauled in the heavyweights – among them a local man who credited the beep with “saving his life” – to deliver the skinny on weight loss when he jump started his anti-obesity campaign outside Borough Hall.

Mr. Brooklyn and former flab-fighters Joseph Gannascoli, who played “Vito” on “The Sopranos” and Bed-Stuy resident Gerald Davis, issued the call for boroughites to reclaim their health with a conference in the square on Joralemon Street, between Court and Adams streets.

The three urged passers-by to adopt a lifestyle of better diet choices and more activity, and announced details of two campaign-related guided walks: July 12 at Betsy Head Park, Dumont and Strauss streets; and July 13 at Prospect Park, Grand Army Plaza.

The walks will be led by knowledgeable fitness experts and begin at 10 a.m.

The Brooklyn-born Gannascoli lost 100 pounds, and Davis, who once tipped the scales at 711 pounds, shed 400 of them after Markowitz inspired him to leave his house and take the weight off.

The borough president began his “Lighten Up Brooklyn” promotion after a health scare two years ago resulted in a stent procedure, motivating him to take “vigorous walks” through Prospect Park and improve his diet, said a spokesperson.

For more information about the campaign, presented in conjunction with the American Heart Association, Aetna and the New York Emmy Awards, call Borough Hall, 718-802—3900