BP Markowitz Urges Mayor to Move Board of Ed to East New York

     On Tuesday, June 18th, the Borough President urged Mayor Michael Bloomberg not to relocate the Chancellor’s office and the well over 1,000 employees who work at the schools’ headquarters from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Instead, the Borough President pro-posed that the Board of Education be relocated from downtown Brooklyn to East New York. Here is part of Marty’s letter to the Mayor:
     "The geographic dispersal of government offices can be an effective economic development tool. The addition of hundreds of office workers in either a new or renovated building would give East New York a much-needed economic shot in the arm. The need for new economic activity there is acute. East New York is a predominantly lower-income area; in 2000, 32% of the residents of Community District 5 received public assistance or SSI, the third-highest rate among Brooklyn’s 18 community districts.

In the late 1970s and the 1980s, the relocation of government agencies to downtown Brooklyn served as a catalyst for the wide-scale downtown revitalization that followed. A schools headquarters building in East New York would be a redevelopment anchor that could stimulate substantial private investment in the area and eventually lead to thousands more private and public-sector workers, residents and retail development. The transportation infrastructure that is necessary for redevelopment already exists; East New York is served by several subway lines and a Long Island Railroad station. You have proposed that a small school be included in the Tweed building. In East New York, there are many schools — some of which are unfortunately not performing up to acceptable academic standards — that administrators could very conveniently visit. Indeed, an East New York headquarters building could easily incorporate a school, perhaps more easily than the Tweed building. Moving the headquarters to an area like East New York, where student test scores have consistently remained far below statewide averages, would send an absolutely clear message to the entire city that we are wholly committed to giving every single New York City child a quality public education.

What better way to break with the status quo than for the Chancellor to go to work every day in the heart of one of the communities that needs the attention the most? I believe that since the Legislature has made the changes that you sought to govern our school system, a decision by you to move the Chancellor and administrators to East New York would be a bold first step as you seek to ensure educational excellence for children across New York City."

State Designates East New York a Quality Community

     On Thursday, June 20th, the BP attended a ceremony with Lt. Governor Mary Donohue announcing that East New York is among the 12 designated communities that will participate in the New York State Quality Communities demonstration project. East New York will receive focused attention from state agencies, both technical and financial, to develop and implement various revitalization strategies and projects. "I’m extremely pleased that East New York will participate in this Quality Communities project because it offers a wide variety of development opportunities. I envision community and industrial development organizations such as the LDC of East New York, the East New York Industrial BID and the East New York Urban Youth Corps working with the State to take full advantage of various state incentive programs which hopefully will result in more housing development and jobs," said the BP.

Lighten Up Brooklyn Winners to Appear on Today Show

     The weighting is almost over! On Friday, June 28th at 9:00 a.m., Marty will announce which neighborhood has lost the most weight during the Lighten Up Brooklyn campaign. The BP will make the announcement on NBC’s Today Show with the winning neighborhood and the male and female weight loss champions at his side. About 7000 Brooklynites joined Marty is his program to lose weight by eating sensibly and regularly exercising. The BP lost 11 pounds during Lighten Up Brooklyn! As we all know, Brooklyn is where many great ideas begin. This campaign has generated so much national and international attention that even President Bush has begun paying attention. The President has been encouraging Americans to do many of the same things Lighten Up Brooklyn stresses – eating right and exercising. Lighten Up America may be right around the corner!

Statement by the BP about the FBI’s Warning about Possible Attacks on Jewish Schools or Synagogues

On Friday, June 22nd, the FBI warned local law enforcement agencies in New York and across the country that terrorists could use fuel tanker trucks for an attack on Jewish schools or synagogues. The FBI also said that it had no solid evidence that such an attack was imminent. As I have repeatedly stated, this is a time to be cautious yet remain calm. While this is a time for vigilance, we do not need vigilantes. No one in the community should be taking the law into his or her hands. I am extremely confident that the New York City Police Department and other law enforcement agencies are taking all the appropriate steps necessary to protect our Jewish communities and their places of worship throughout Brooklyn. There is no reason for people to stay away from their synagogues or pull their children out of school. I am in constant communication with various members of the Jewish community and law enforcement officials, and I want to reaffirm my total sup-port for those in charge of protecting the borough of Brooklyn.

BP Seeks Help from Private Sector to Create Summer Jobs for Local Teens

The Borough President has launched Brooklyn Summer H.E.A.T (Helping Employ Ambitious Teens), a program created to encourage businesses to hire Brooklyn young people, ages 16-18, this summer. "Private businesses have the power to make a difference in our community by taking teens off the streets and placing them in productive jobs within their businesses," the BP said. "H.E.A.T. employers will be playing a significant role by training and developing their future workforce and providing Brooklyn’s youth with important job skills and work ethics." Marty is seeking to develop this partnership between the public and private sector because budget cuts will drastically cut most government funding for summer job programs for young people. Traditionally, government programs have placed young people in summer jobs in the nonprofit sector.
The Summer H.E.A.T. initiative will last six weeks, from July 8 to August 23, 2002. The BP’s office is collaborating with youth service providers, which will pre-screen and prepare teens for the summer jobs. Employers will pay young people at least the minimum wage, $5.15 an hour, for up to 30 hours a week over the six-week period. Among the many businesses participating in the program include Independence Community Bank, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, local hospitals and Brooklyn Borough Hall. The program is being offered through a partnership between Brooklyn Borough Hall, the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation, and Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. For information regarding Brooklyn Summer H.E.A.T., please call (718) 802-3619.

The BP Steps Up to the Plate for the Brooklyn Cyclones

     On Wednesday, June 19th, Marty attended the Brooklyn Cyclones home opener at a sold out KeySpan Park. Before the game, he took part in a ceremony launching NAT’s Kids, a mentoring program for kids in the Coney Island area sponsored by the Cyclones and the Police Athletic League. CNN’s Larry King came back home to his old stomping grounds to serve as master of ceremonies for the event. Among the other honored guests were Mayor Bloomberg, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau and KeySpan Chairman & CEO Robert Catell. Marty also helped raise the Cyclones’ championship flag before the game, which the Cyclones won, 6-2, over the Staten Island Yankees.

Marty Takes Simple Prostate Cancer Test at Borough Hall

     On Tuesday, June 18th, Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers and the Daily News sponsored free prostate screenings at Borough Hall. Known as Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), the simple blood test was given to 127 men over age 40 to screen for prostate cancer. Marty was near the front of the line and urged all Brooklyn men to follow his lead. "It is so important for men to be regularly screened for this very treatable disease. This program will certainly remind men throughout New York that while prostate cancer is treatable, it should not be ignored," said Markowitz. "I know how men are very squeamish about certain tests, and how they try to avoid this, but we owe it to our loved ones and ourselves to take care of ourselves. As a 57 year old man, I know how vital it is for me to practice what I preach." The American Cancer Society partnered with Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers to provide information about prostate cancer and treatment options. Here are some important facts about prostate cancer: it is the most common cancer among American men excluding skin cancer; African American men are about two times more likely to develop prostate cancer than are white men; and the risk of getting it increases after age 50 and over 80% of all men who get the disease are 65 years of age or older.

The BP Helps Make Brooklyn Beautiful

     On his numerous appearances in Bedford Stuyvesant since January, Marty has noticed that three vacant lots were covered with trash and were an eye sore which was hurting the outstanding efforts of the local organizations that were trying to keep their community clean. He decided to do something must be done so the BP arranged with the Department of Probation to have a group of people performing community service to help clean up the lots at the corner of Macon Street and Tompkins Avenue on Saturday, June 22nd. Sharonnie Perry, the Chairperson of Community Board 3, Mrs. Smallwood, President of the Macon T & T Block Association, Tohma Faulkner, President of the Brownstoners of Bedford Stuyvesant & Community Board 3 member and Gerald Smith, a Community Board 3 member representing Councilman Al Vann joined Marty at the clean up site. The BP hopes this will be the first of many such efforts. Marty is committed to maintaining and preserving the beautiful neighborhoods throughout the borough and he looks forward to hearing from you if there are any vacant lots in your neighborhood that need to be cleaned.

Marty's a King at the Mermaid Parade

     On Saturday, June 22nd, Marty made a dashing King Neptune at the 20th Annual Mermaid Parade in Coney Island. Of course every good king has a queen. Marty’s queen was Toni Senecal, an enter-tainment reporter for Channel 11. Thousands of spectators jammed the streets of Coney Island to watch the parade and everybody had a fantastic time at one of Brooklyn’s most unique events.

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