BP MARKOWITZ STATEMENT ON CLOSING OF PFIZER’S BROOKLYN BIRTHPLACE LOCATION

“I am profoundly disappointed that after more than a century and a half in Brooklyn, Pfizer has chosen to shutter the Bartlett Street location where it was born and eliminate the more than 600 remaining quality jobs there. Apparently market forces have trumped history and local roots, and another piece of our city’s industrial heart and soul will be lost. Considering the company was founded here, employed generations of hard-working residents here, and even recently touted its Brooklyn roots in an advertising campaign, Brooklynites are saddened to learn that extra measures weren’t taken by Pfizer to preserve the plant and its jobs at this site.

Nonetheless, I vow to work with Pfizer and the City to ensure that every available resource is utilized to assist employees affected by this decision in finding new employment and making a smooth transition to the endeavor they choose, especially regarding health or retirement benefits. Brooklyn has been proud home to Pfizer throughout its existence, and we expect our residents to be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve, from a reasonable timetable for notification and closing to possible job training and new employment options. And I am hopeful that the company will continue to have a positive local impact as plans develop for future uses of its Brooklyn site.

With our borough and city’s resilient economy, I am confident that in the days ahead we will continue to create the kind of jobs for residents of every skill set that were a strong feature of the Pfizer site. But on this day we are surprised and saddened to see the effects of the competitive global economy hit so close to home.”

—Borough President Marty Markowitz