In a city with 51 councilmembers, 13 congressional representatives, 63
members of the Assembly, 26 state Senators, a mayor, five borough presidents,
five district attorneys and a public advocate (who does what, exactly?),
it’s not always so easy for a local pol to get noticed.
But boy oh boy did our elected officials try! Here’s how our favorite
sons and daughters got their name in The Brooklyn Papers this year:
February
Who IS da Boss?: Borough President Markowitz opened the political season
by having actor (and native Brooklynite) Tony Danza show up at his “State
of the Borough” address. Given Danza’s troubled history with
TV ratings, it was unclear whether Markowitz was trying to ride on the
star’s coat-tails or visa-versa.
Ooh, that smell: State Senator Marty Golden (R-Bay Ridge) fumed over a
Prospect Heights man’s children’s book which Golden believed
promoted marijuana use. The book, “It’s Just a Plant,”
focuses on a young girl who walks in on her parents as they’re sharing
a joint. The experience sends her on a journey where she meets a farmer
who grows his own weed. In the end, she vows to fight for “fair”
marijuana laws when she grows up (stunted, if you can believe the marijuana
opponents). Golden’s outcry led to two major developments: 1) The
book received enormous publicity that it might not have gotten and 2)
Senate staffers no longer bothered to include Golden in their all-night
bill-drafting and pot parties.
Premature Pressreleaseation: Councilmember David Yassky is not reluctant
to issue a press release, but the Brooklyn Heights Democrat pressed the
“Send” button on one release too quickly for the NYPD. Yassky
wanted to get well-deserved credit for encouraging local cops to step
up enforcement of truck violations in Boerum Hill — but his announcement
tipped off the very scofflaws he was hoping to apprehend, so the cops
cancelled the ticket blitz.
March
The naked are the damned: Who could have a problem with naked women? Well, April
All you need is love: Borough President Markowitz dived into a national Any way they slice it: A Bay Ridge political club, Brooklyn Democrats Convenient excuse: Councilmember Vincent Gentile (D-Bay Ridge) got in Photo op of the year: In the “You can’t make this stuff up” LRG OFC, RIV VU: The United Nations announced that it will need temporary
state Sen. Marty Golden proved he was no fan of Howard Stern when he protested
the Showtime series “The L-Word” after its posters appeared
in bus shelters and subway billboards. The ad depicted naked women snuggling.
Golden said he objected to the supposed lewdness, but based on his interview
with The Papers, it might have been construed that he was simply overwhelmed
by the conspicuous concupiscence: “I’ve never even seen [this
many] naked women,” he said.
controversy over gay marriage by coming out in support of same-sex unions
— although he can’t actually do anything about it: the city
clerk refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples and courts said
there’s not anything wrong with that.
for Change, lacked the conviction to even agree on the neighborhood’s
best pizza, naming Nino’s and Peppino’s as co-winners. Good
thing they left toppings out of the debate or else they’d still be
arguing.
the papers for all the wrong reasons after proposing that drivers be allowed
to legally double-park for five minutes so they could run into a store
for a quick errand. It was hard to know which was louder: the screaming
from the NYPD or the laughter from local Republicans hoping to exploit
the gaffe at election time. The bill died, but Gentile survived.
May
category, Borough President Markowitz was joined by Ms. Full-Figured U.S.,
Andria Gazelle, for a walkathon as part of the Beep’s “Lighten
Up, Brooklyn” campaign. Despite his own weight-loss efforts, Markowitz
again won the “Full-Figured NYC Borough President” pageant,
again beating out Queens Beep Helen Marshall for the honors.
July
office space during its upcoming renovation — so who else but our
own Borough President went straight to Turtle Bay to lobby Kofi Annan
personally? Markowitz presented Annan with a statue of the Brooklyn Bridge,
but in the interests of international diplomacy, did not ask the trim
U.N. secretary general for his diet secret in exchange.
God’s parking lot: The City Council did away with traffic meter enforcement
on Sundays, arguing that people should not have to pay to pray. Mayor
Bloomberg vetoed the Vincent Gentile-backed bill, calling it, “Another
way of [councilmembers] trying to get their names in the paper in an election
year.” The Council over-rode the veto in October. The new law led
to a brief surge in religious conversions before people realized it covered
all parkers, whether they believe in God or not.
Out of his bunker: Vice President Dick Cheney came to town to stump for
Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Bay Ridge), one of the president’s more reliable
allies in Congress. Fossella got another boost later in the year when
the federal base-closing panel spared Fort Hamilton from its ax. But Fossella’s
Republican street cred has made him a target of Democrats, who are seeking
a candidate — Councilmember Vincent Gentile, perhaps? — to defeat
him in November ’06.
August
Foot in mouth award: City Councilmember James Oddo (R-Bensonhurst) told
The Papers that the NYPD should use racial profiling against Arabs. “The
reality is that there is a group of people who want to kill us and destroy
our way of life — young Arab fundamentalists.” How controversial
were Oddo’s comments? Even the NYPD objected.
October
Pay the piper: Former Assemblymember (and Brooklyn Democratic Party boss)
Clarence Norman (D-Crown Heights) was found guilty of violating election
law and falsifying business records. Two months later, Norman was convicted
again on similar charges. The verdicts came as part of a wide-ranging
investigation into whether Norman and his cronies sold judgeships. The
crime wasn’t that they sold judgeships though, but that they charged
retail!
Party on!: Borough President Markowitz – a proud Democrat –
jumped off the Democratic bandwagon to endorse Mayor Bloomberg for re-election.
With Marty’s help, the Republican mayor was re-elected by a historic
margin over Fernando Ferrer. The mayor later repaid Markowitz for his
endorsement by choosing Brooklyn as his home base during the three-day
transit strike. The mayor even had breakfast at Markowitz’s favorite
joint, Junior’s, but skipped the famous cheesecake in deference to
Markowitz’s diet.
November
A come-from-ahead win: City Councilmember Vincent Gentile (D-Bay Ridge)
must have felt like he had a bull’s-eye on his back, what with so
many Republicans trying to unseat him. The neighborhood’s GOP brain
trust — state Sen. Marty Golden, Rep. Vito Fossella and Assemblymember
Matthew Mirones — all backed challenger Pat Russo. But even though
Republican Mayor Bloomberg won the district by more than 3 to 1, Gentile
pulled out a squeaker (well, a squeaker by today’s standards), winning
55-45..
