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March 1, 2010
Daily News: Markowitz raises $122K from campaign donors for State of the Borough
Atlantic Yards Report
During Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz's State of the Borough address last month came this acknowledgment:
AND FOR MAKING THIS EVENT POSSIBLE TONIGHT, MY DEAR FRIEND AND CAMPAIGN TREASURER FOR MANY YEARS, MIKE WEISS, TREASURER OF “BRAVO BROOKLYN” 2009
The Daily News, which noted that Markowitz's speech lasted an hour and 15 minutes (vs. the 20-minute speech by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall), asked about the cost; a Markowitz spokesman said no numbers were available, but "his campaign inaugural committee, Bravo Brooklyn, would pick up the tab."
(Weiss is Executive Director of the MetroTech Business Improvement District, an organization with ties to MetroTech developer Forest City Ratner here's the only official mention I could find of Bravo Brooklyn.)
Following up
Credit the Daily News for following up and finding some notable numbers:
Most pols went for modest ceremonies in the poor economy, but Markowitz raised $122,000 for a State of the Borough address featuring singing, dancing and a multimedia production - plus food and beer for 1,600.
"Marty's famous for finding every opportunity to host big events on behalf of Brooklyn and not incidentally on behalf of Marty," said David Birdsell, dean of Baruch College's School of Public Affairs. "The question is whether it's politically useful. It would seem perhaps the least prudent time in recent memory to launch a big celebration of someone's ascension to office."
...Many Markowitz contributors - mostly Brooklyn developers and business owners - gave him the maximum contribution of $3,850 for his campaign and then ponied up another maximum $3,500 for his inauguration.
NoLandGrab: Like Marty says, "if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all." So mum's the word.
Posted by eric at March 1, 2010 11:07 AM