Santa loves gay marriage!
Same-sex nuptials are front and center on Borough President Markowitz’s holiday card, the Beep’s annual artistic look back at the biggest stories of the year.
Last year, Markowitz’s antipathy for the Prospect Park West bike lane provided the thematic backdrop, but this year, the gay-marriage–backing borough president had artist Dennis Adler prominently feature two same-sex couples exchanging their vows on the Coney Island Boardwalk, another of Markowitz’s passions.
As usual, the card features a riot of images that put a punctuation mark on 2011, including:
• Markowitz and his wife, Jamie, riding the Slingshot, a new Coney Island thrill ride. The couple’s African parrot, Beep, is also featured.
• A hurricane moving off the coast, a reference to the near miss of Hurricane Irene.
• A reindeer holding an “Occupy North Pole” sign, a reference to Markowitz’s support for the Occupy Wall Street movement.
• A royal couple, a reference to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. It is unclear what Markowitz is trying to say with this image, though Markowitz’s spokesman Mark Zustovich noted that Brooklyn is named “Kings County,” after all.
• Two “Men in Black,” a reference to the filming of “MIB III” that was done all over the borough earlier this year.
The card is rounded out with other Coney imagery, including mermaids, hot dog eaters, Polar Bear Club members, rides, and Brooklyn Cyclone players.
But the gay marriage celebration stands out as the dominant feature.
“It was one of the biggest stories of the year, not only in Brooklyn, but across New York State,” Zustovich said. “Of course, Borough Hall hosted some of the first weddings back in July, and our borough has one of the largest LGBT communities in the nation.”
Inside, Markowitz has rewritten the yuletide classic, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” with lyrics that are more Brooklyn-centric. Here’s the full song, which is likely to sweep the borough:
It’s a wonderful time to live in Brooklyn
The holidays are here
We got the Brooklyn Nets and Aretha gave us “Respect”
We braved the quake and Irene’s wake this year.
It’s a wonderful time to live in Brooklyn
Just take a stroll around
Isn’t it great for me and you that the hip ZIP’s 112
Where lots of love and Mazel Tovs abound?
(chorus)
Tom Selleck, Buscemi are shooting for the Emmys
On Brooklyn’s magnificent streets
And gays can get wed as diversity spreads
From the Promenade out to the beach
And the Scream Zone and the Sling Shot are the newest Coney treats
It’s a wonderful time to live in Brooklyn
We’re world class all the way.
GQ voted us the best, so fuhgeddabout the rest
Happy holiday!
Reach Editor Gersh Kuntzman at gkuntzman@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4504 for just a few days more.
