BP Markowitz names community board members
    Marty sent letters this week to more than 450 Brooklyn residents informing them of their appointment to one of Brooklyn’s 18 Community Boards. They will begin serving their one and two-year terms starting immediately.
    A total of 900 individuals are on the borough’s community boards. Since they serve staggered terms, one-half of the seats were at stake this year and additional members were named to fill vacancies. Most of the letters went to sitting members who were reappointed because they had demonstrated their commitment to their community and had shown that they were effective Board members. More than 100 entirely new members were named.
    Marty consulted widely with community leaders before making the appointments. While the City Charter provides for the Borough President to appoint all Community Board members, with one-half of the appointments nominated by the local City Council member, Marty discussed his appointments not only with the local City Council Member, but with other local elected officials and community leaders. "We worked as teams to identify the most qualified individuals. And we sought a wide diversity in membership to ensure that the boards reflect all of the experiences and richness of each community," he said.
    Marty noted, "In the end, I made these appointments — new members as well as reappointments — based on careful consideration of each applicant’s record of service to the community."

Mayor comes to MetroTech, promises more support for Business Improvement Districts...
    On May 14th, Mayor Bloomberg chose the MetroTech Business Improvement District as the setting to announce measures that should increase the effectiveness of the City’s Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and make it easier to form new ones. Included in the new measures are allowing BIDs to raise their annual assssments, allowing them to float bonds to pay for capital projects, and making it easier to form new BIDs by cutting red-tape and providing seed money to finance new BID planning processes.
    In his remarks at the Mayor’s MetroTech announcement, Marty pointed out that Brooklyn is home to the very first BID in New York City — the Fulton Mall Improvement Association and that Brooklyn has more BIDs than any other borough. "This proves Brooklyn’s dedication to keeping our retail strips strong and our willingness to help ourselves," he said.
    Marty also praised BIDs for helping to transform many of the City’s commercial districts: "Just compare some of our commercial strips as they were in the 1970’s — vacant storefronts, heaps of litter, rampant robberies and burglaries, and a fear of crime that kept shoppers away in drives - with the same districts today." He said that BID-sponsored security patrols, clean-up teams, facade and streetscape improvements have all made enormous differences. "They’ve changed both reality and public perception. And business has come back."
    He cited the MetroTech BID as a model that others have followed and he recognized the achievements of Michael Weiss, MetroTech BID’s Executive Director. Crime in MetroTech BID’s area has continued to plummet and it is now 84% below the 1991 level, making the MetroTech area one of the safest business districts in the City. And the BID’s streets and public areas are kept nearly spotless.

... but the City’s Executive Budget cuts local development monies
    The Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation (BEDC), headed by Executive Director Joan Bartolomeo, and Brooklyn’s local development corporations are often credited with saving and creating thousands of small-business jobs in recent years. Unfortunately, the City’s Executive Budget jeopardizes their future successes by eliminating more than $500,000 in BEDC funding (their entire City allocation) and $200,000 in LDC funds elsewhere in Brooklyn. Programs scheduled for elimination have been instrumental in assisting retail streets that do not have a Business Improvement District. And while the cuts may seem relatively modest in the context of the City budget, these funds have been well-deployed to leverage private investment and State and federal monies.
    On May 13th, Marty attended a City Hall press conference with Bartolomeo, members of the Brooklyn City Council delegation - headed by Council Member Lew Fidler — and elected officials from the other four boroughs to announce their opposition to these cuts.

 Brooklyn’s Memorial Day Parade steps off on May 27th
    On Tuesday, May 14th Marty met with representatives of 100 veterans and civic organizations to promote Brooklyn’s annual Memorial Day Parade, to be held on May 27th. Parade organizers expect 5,000 marchers and 15 bands to walk Third Avenue between 79th Street and John Paul Jones Park at 101st Street and 4th Avenue at the entrance to Fort Hamilton. The parade steps off at 11:00 AM and culminates in a 1:00 ceremony at the park. Edward J. Cush, a Korean War veteran, is chairman of the Memorial Day Parade Committee. Marty will be one of the honored guests. Michael Handy, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs, will be the reviewing officer. Handy is a Vietnam War veteran and Brooklyn native. The parade is the oldest consecutively held Memorial Day Parade in the nation.

Flag over Borough Hall recognizes nurses
    A flag representing the nurses of Maimonides Hospital was proudly hoisted over Borough Hall last week to commemorate Nurses Recognition Week. According to Marty, this flag really acknowledges the contributions of all nurses in Brooklyn, whether they work in one of our twelve hospitals, in a clinic, a physician’s office, as a visiting nurse, or on private duty. The flag will remain flying for about a month.

Lighten Up Brooklyn signs up thousands
    An official tally hasn’t been finished, but so far several thousand Brooklynites have registered and had their weight recorded at one of the 156 official weigh-in stations as part of the eight-week Lighten Up Brooklyn campaign. Registrants are being asked to return to their starting weigh-in station during the week of June 9th to have their new weight recorded. With four full weeks to go, it’s still not too late to join. To learn the the location of a weigh-in station convenient to you, click onto www.brooklyn-usa.org and then click the Lighten Up Brooklyn logo, or call 718-802-3777.
    As part of Lighten Up Brooklyn’s programming to encourage Brooklynites to get more exercise, this Wednesday the American Heart Association and Brooklyn’s Gleason’s Gym sponsored a noontime interactive jump rope demonstration at Borough Hall Plaza. A personal trainer from the gym — which is famous for training professional boxers — demonstrated the most effective way to jump rope and invited passersby to join in, using a rope supplied by the Association.
    This Saturday at 10:00 AM, May 18th, Lighten Up Brooklyn’s weekly "Walk in the Park" will take place in Carroll Park in Carroll Gardens). Meet at the monument in the middle of the park. And at noon next Wednesday, May 22nd, Modell’s Sporting Goods will set up a gym with a full circuit of exercise equipment in Borough Hall Plaza. Personal trainers will be on hand and passersby will be encouraged to try out the machines. For each person who gives it a try, Modell’s will make a donation to the Police Athletic League, which sponsors athletic programs for the City’s young people.

In brief
    Among Marty’s many community appearances during the past week:
    On Thursday, May 9th, he spoke at the Holocaust Memorial Scholarship Poetry and Essay Contest which was held at the Borough Hall Courtroom. On Friday, May 10, he spoke at the 51st Birthday or M.S. 51.
    Among Marty’s Saturday appearances: He addressed the Park Slope Civic Council Block Association Brunch at Johnny Mack’s Restaurant, followed by remarks at New York Methodist Hospital’s press conference to kick-off free prostate cancer screening. That afternoon he joined in the Brooklyn Heights Association’s Landmark Houses & Garden Walking Tour and delivered a proclamation and spoke at the National Council of Negro Women’s Recognition Program and luncheon at the New York Sheraton.
    He also attended the Church of St. Mark’s Sixth Annual Intergenerational Luncheon, and the Prospect Park Alliance’s Family Day at the Prospect Park Skating Rink.
    On Mother’s Day, May 12th Marty was at the opening of the paintings exhibition by Lynn Russell, at the Chassidic Art Institute, sponsored by the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council.
    This Monday, Marty spoke at the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra’s annual fundraising gala held at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Marty is an honorary chair of the event. Under Music Director Robert Spano, the orchestra continues to play to critical acclaim and is nationally known for its innovative programming. Early Tuesday morning he participated in Bike to Work Week, organized by the advocacy group, Transportation Alternatives, by riding a bike to work. On the Brooklyn Bridge he greeted riders and handed out free bicycle bells.
    Finally, on Wednesday, Marty spoke at the Brooklyn Public Library’s announcement of the selection of an architect for a new Visual and Performing Arts Library to be located on Flatbush Avenue near the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Marty noted, "Once this gets going, people all over the country will check out what we are doing here and see if they can copy us."

Only in Brooklyn available on Marty’s web site
    Back issues of Only in Brooklyn can be viewed at the Borough President’s web site: www.brooklyn-usa.org.