Borough President Markowitz put “Lighten Up Brooklyn” on a diet this year.
Once an annual event featuring weeks of weight-loss classes, programs and tips, this year’s “Lighten Up Brooklyn” consisted of just one weekend’s worth of walking tours.
It’s not because Markowitz no longer believe in diet and exercise — indeed, he lost 25 pounds since last year’s campaign — but simply that Mayor Bloomberg is doing such a good job promoting weight loss citywide (if you chose to believe the explanation from Markowitz’s spokeswoman, that is).
“The city’s Health Department is doing plenty to support the health of its citizens,” said the spokeswoman, Laura Sinagra. “This year we decided to make [Lighten Up, Brooklyn] shorter.”
Shorter indeed. In its first year, 2002, Lighten Up Brooklyn offered discounts to health clubs and sports stores, plus easy access to dieticians and health experts. There were even 156 weigh-in stations where weight-watchers could check their progress.
There was incentive, too. The neighborhood that lost the most weight had a flag raised above Borough Hall. Each weigh-in station’s biggest loser got a free night in the Brooklyn Marriott and an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show.
The diet event was so big that fitness legend Richard Simmons performed a workout routine with Markowitz — and CNN, the BBC, and even a Japanese news show covered the Markowitz initiative.
Most important, it worked. In 2002, 5,921 people stuck with the program, losing a total of 41 tons of excess Brooklyn.
What a difference a few years makes.
This year, there were no weigh-in stations and no data was taken for before and after comparisons.
“It’s too bad they have taken it away,” said Anthony Drayton, who lost the most weight during the 2002 Lighten Up Brooklyn campaign.
“It helps you get in shape to have the whole borough behind you.”
