Marty Markowitz Believes His Trips To Europe Should Be On The People's Dime

As things get interesting for one ethically tainted City Councilman tomorrow, scrutiny is being paid to Brooklyn's own mascot-in-chief, Marty Markowitz. The affable jokester who's face reminds me some buffoonish Disney character is back in the news for using his position for his personal gain. With the Atlantic Yards fiasco (and his collusion with it) seemingly safely behind him, Marty is back at it and willing to get away with more of our money and laughing all the way.

From The NY Observer:

Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz took two trips, whose prices both fell somewhere in the tantalizing gulf between $5,000 and $39,999.

It took him four days in March to spend the first sum, while he enjoyed the "Kingdom of Netherlands." According to the form, he was a guest at Holland's "official celebration of their 400 year relationship with New York." Awkward!

He spent the next bundle during five November days in Izmir, Turkey, where he was doing more wooing than celebrating. According to the form, he spent his time trying "to develop sister-city status."

And then there's a trip to Israel in 2008, but no dollar amounts were mentioned. Markowitz proves over and over that behind his smile, lies a greedy political crook that is only looking for the perks of office and then some. If Ydanis Rodriguez gets the can for improper touching (and if it's true he should be tossed) then Markowitz should suffer the same fate for improperly stealing from Brooklynites and New Yorkers from all five boroughs.

Gates Stay Down At Gorilla Coffee In Brooklyn

Riding the 2 train this morning, I couldn't help but think about the freshly roasted coffee I was about to consume, along with a Blue Sky Bakery muffin at Gorilla Coffee on my way to work. Needless to say I was shocked to see the usually bustling shop closed, with boxes of delivered goods sitting unattended on the empty tables inside. A couple other passer-bys were perplexed by the inactivity and then I turned back to get a standard bodega coffee a couple blocks away. By the time I got to my desk fifteen minutes later, I had heard that the staff walked out on Friday night.

Of course there are those who support the workers and others that think they are 'barista snobs' who should have valued having a job. My opinion isn't set in stone as of yet, but from what I've read thus far (and seen for my own eyes while waiting online or sitting at the tables) it seems that the workers had every right to shutter the mighty Gorilla.

Here's the staff's letter to the public:

We the workers would have preferred to keep this between the people involved, thus our silence towards the press. However, we do feel it is important to clarify the situation for the friends and patrons of Gorilla Coffee. The issues brought up with the owners of Gorilla Coffee yesterday are issues that they have been aware of for some time. These issues which have repeatedly been brushed aside and ignored have created a perpetually malicious, hostile, and demeaning work environment that was not only unhealthy, but also, as our actions have clearly shown, unworkable.

Several staff left not only recently, but also in the past few years due to these issues. The staff was recently told that the business partner to whom these issues have been repeatedly attributed was no longer affiliated with the business, and the environment was going to change. For 6 weeks nothing was seen nor heard of this business partner. This separation changed the dynamic of the business so drastically one of the departed staff quit their other job to return with the understanding these changes were permanent, and those who had tendered their resignation, or were drafting it, decided to stay. When the business partner returned without explanation, staff approached the owner hoping to find out the reason for this sudden and unannounced return. Work environment and workplace issues aside, the workers collectively felt deceived and that they had been shown a lack of mutual respect. This only served to highlight and reemphasize the previously expressed concerns. As the staff was well aware, both through experience and through conversation with past employees, Gorilla Coffee has a history of this pattern repeating itself.

It should be emphasized that the intent of the meeting was above all to find a solution to this unhealthy situation, a solution which involved the maintenance of these improvements to the work environment, and that would prevent any future returns to the previous unhealthy dynamic. Above all the attitude of the staff involved in the meeting (who were representing the rest of the staff) was one of respect and positivity. A collective instant resignation was an agreed upon last resort and not a bargaining chip. It was simply that without change, we all felt unwilling to undergo another day in that environment. Hence, out of a collective feeling of self respect and job insecurity, the staff decided it would be in their best interest to find employment elsewhere.

This isn’t political and it isn’t a strike. The staff quit and the matter will not be resolved. It’s a matter of business, and a personal matter for each of the staff. Everyone at Gorilla Coffee, including the owners and the staff, are skilled, passionate, and hard working. It is unfortunate for everyone involved. The workers are grateful to the many wonderful patrons over the years, and we apologize that it was necessary to inconvenience them in this way. All we can say is “thank you for the support and all the best.”

Sincerely, The workers of Gorilla Coffee

There's the owner's side of the story as well, and is reported at Sprudge among others. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle, but my intuition says that if an entire contingent of workers are willing to walk out on the job, responsible consumers might want to find their caffeine elsewhere until the owners make good on the workers' claims.

One Good Thing About The Economic Meltdown

Countless lives are being devastated by the mess on Wall Street as the shockwaves are being felt across the world. The impact is incredibly great here in New York City, since as we all know, Wall Street is in Lower Manhattan. A quick trip on the 4/5 can get you over to Brooklyn and a massive disaster that is the Atlantic Yards project, and that is giving its greatest news since Bruce Ratner decided to develop destroy a large chunk of Downtown Brooklyn.

From The Gothamist:

The Associated Press is responsible for the latest skeptical report on the future of developer Bruce Ratner's embattled $4 billion plan to build a Nets arena, office towers and thousands of apartments in Brooklyn. The article paints a bleak picture of the project, noting that in addition to the two ongoing lawsuits Ratner has been fighting off for years, the Wall Street bust has made investors just a wee bit apprehensive. The arena's groundbreaking was recently pushed back again, and the stadium—if it's ever built—will cost more than triple what Ratner paid for the entire franchise. "It's got more of an economic stall than a political or a legal stall," says Michael Rowe, former president of the Nets. "I think he missed the curve on when that project was financially viable and now he has to wait for it to come back." Longtime opponent Daniel Goldstein of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn puts it more bluntly: "This is just merely a fantasy that they're going to build this project. Yet they're moving forward as if everything's fine."

So Ratner can talk all he wants about how great things are the reality is far different. The credit market is terrible for all of us and Ratner is no exception. So while we all collectively suffer, keep in mind the man that wanted to take away people's homes via eminent domain; just so he could build a basketball arena with expensive shops and condos is becoming more a wistful dream of his and less of a nightmare for those he wanted to kick out of the neighborhood.

How To Have A Political Discussion...Brooklyn Style

Of course, there are more polite forums for political discourse, but this sidewalk certaonly wasn't it:



At least it didn't come to blows.

Diamondstone Will Run For City Council

Only a few short weeks since Ken Diamondstone bowed out of the SD-25 race to make way for challenger Daniel Squadron. Now he is diving right back in to the political action of Brooklyn by announcing his run for the 33rd Council District. The seat is currently held by David Yassky, but he is being term-limited out. Diamondstone will face quite a bit of competition with several candidates having already announced their intentions for CD-33. However, as Azi points out, things are looking good for Ken here in the Williamsburg/Greenpoint/DUMBO/Brooklyn Heights area.

From The Observer:

In the announcement, Diamondstone’s campaign said he will “make history by becoming Brooklyn’s first openly gay representative to any legislative body in New York State.”

He has reason to believe he can do it.

When he ran for State Senate in 2006, Diamondstone was seeking to represent a district that covers lower Manhattan and portions of Brooklyn. Diamondstone lost the Manhattan portion of the district to Connor by 2,163 votes, but he carried the Brooklyn portion by 1,384 votes.

The 33rd Council district overlaps with that area of Brooklyn.

With all of the good things Ken has done for his neighborhood and all of Brooklyn, voters will certainly recall his good name when they cast their ballots next year. The announcement was just made this morning, so there is no Council campaign site up yet, but you can still check him out at the original Diamondstone for Senate site.

"Atlantic Yards" Back In Court

For those of you that despise gentrification and making one company wealthy at the expense of a community, today is crucial for the plaintiffs arguing against Forest City Ratner and Judge Garaufis' decision to allow the Atlantic Yards to be built as planned. Members of the community are going up against the U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn the decision that basically said that it is okay to destroy a community if it makes the area more glitzy and glamorous.

From The Atlantic Yards Report:

U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis already dismissed their case for a failure to state a claim, ruling that presence of some measure of public benefits—mass transit improvements, the removal of blight, subsidized housing, a sports facility, open space—trumped any allegation that the project might primarily confer a private benefit on developer Forest City Ratner.

There’s a difference, the plaintiffs argue in a final reply brief, and it has to do with process. Precedential cases, which drew on more egregious fact patterns—severe blight in Washington, DC (Berman), and a land oligopoly in Hawaii (Midkiff)—lead courts to defer to legislative determinations, as the Supreme Court in 2005 did in its narrow Kelo v. New London decision, upholding the use of eminent domain for economic development.

The brief says the courts must “resolve the obvious tension between and among” the three cases, which call for courts to defer to “a legislative determination that a taking serves a public purpose” but, as reaffirmed in Kelo, must look carefully at “plausible allegations that ostensibly ‘public’ purposes are pretextual and that the real purpose of a taking is to benefit a private developer.”

The plaintiffs--13 homeowners, business owners, residential and commercial tenants--suggest that, in this case, no deference is warranted, because “all of the indicia of legitimate public decisionmaking are absent, and most or all of the indicia of illegitimate private decisionmaking are present.”

The entire post is long and complex, but a good read for anyone that wants to understand the legitimate arguments of the plaintiffs. All they want is to be able to bring the case to court so that they can present the facts.

This isn't some frivolous lawsuit, it is a chance for the people of the community to speak out on what happens in their lives and the area around them. Allowing one company (and one man, Bruce Ratner) to be able to take people's property away from them so that he can make a profit is not only disgusting, it is un-American. The Appellate Court should at the very least allow the people to present their case.

Why New Yorkers Should Know What The AKRF Is

AKRF stands for the names Allee King Rosen & Fleming, but it means much more than a few surnames to the city of New York. AKRF has been consulted for many different projects around the area to certify environmental and historical sites to be developed or redeveloped. Their analyses are used for small projects like this one on Duffield Street in Brooklyn and large endeavors such as the reconstruction of the World Trade Center. So why is this important to anyone? Because their history is quite murky and there tends to be a lot of cold hard cash involved when they are involved.

From Duffield St.:

While New York City is suffering from an ailing electrical and sewer infrastructure, we are on a building boom. Somehow, it's the priority to build endless luxury highrises and not fix potholes. How is this done?

For all of the megaprojects going up, one firm is responsible for most of the environmental studies: AKRF. This blog focuses on the Duffield Street homes, and we are committed to examining the credibility of AKRF's historical analysis.

You may ask, Who cares if AKRF screws up a historical analysis? The problem is that "historical resources" fall under the scope of environmental analysis, just like air pollution and waste water. So if AKRF lacks credibility in its historical analysis of Duffield, this raises questions about its traffic analysis.

Duffield St also provides a giant list of shameful links about AKRF and the poor decisions they have made in the past. This post puts a spotlight on one relatively hidden cog in the beast that is the redevelopment of New York City and its historical integrity. Gentrification may seem inevitable, but if we can shine enough light on how the process works there just might be some hope for the people to have their say when it comes to the future of New York.

Brooklyn Waterfront Declared Endangered Historic Place

The National Trust for Historic Preservation declared that the industrial waterfront of Brooklyn to be one of the top 11 most endangered historic spots in the country. A local non-profit, the Municipal Art Society helped to nominate the area along with such sites as the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail that runs between Texas and New Mexico and the more famous Route 66.

This is an important development for the waterfront of Brooklyn because it shows how important this area is to the history of New York and the country itself. Instead of tearing down our history for the enrichment of developers, historians would rather see a transformation of the old industrial buildings such as what happened to SoHo and TriBeCa.

From The New York Times:

“They have value for the working waterfront and industrial retention in New York City,” Lisa Kersavage, a preservationist at the Municipal Art Society, said of the structures. “We need to raise awareness that these buildings are of national significance and that their loss is of national concern.”

The waterfront was nominated for the endangered list by the society, a nonprofit preservation organization. The society says that the city’s Department of Buildings issued 1,740 new building permits in Brooklyn in 2005. The same year the buildings department issued 1,924 permits for demolition, roughly double the number issued five years ago.

“Brooklyn lost five buildings and gained four new ones every day in 2005,” the society said in its nomination. Asked about the trust’s concerns, Daniel L. Doctoroff, deputy mayor for economic development and rebuilding, pointed out that some buildings might be preserved, like the Domino Sugar refinery, a brick Romanesque Revival structure that is up for consideration by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Well of course the Domino Sugar Refinery won't be demolished, that would cause a city-wide uproar. This is more important than one famous example for the city to show a pseudo-soft side. The problem is that the city and the developers want to demolish Brooklyn bit by bit to raise real estate prices and gentrify as much of the city as they possibly can. Preserving the area isn't the most economically profitable solution for these people so Bloomberg and developers like the Atlantic Yards group fight against the community they want to sweep aside.

Brooklyn Loses One Of It's Own

As the casualty figures rise faster and faster for our troops in Iraq, it is easy for many of us to only see the figures. Yet, behind each number there is a name, a family and a community that knew each and every soldier that went to fight for this godforsaken war. One of those soldiers was Sgt. Kimel Watt. This twenty-one year old joined the Army for a better life, yet he was blown up by a roadside bomb instead.

His family is devastated, their son is taken from them with so much more life to live. One of the hardest things to do in life is to lose a child and now the Watt family has to take on that task as do hundreds of parents every month that hear the grim news from Iraq.

From The Daily News:

His heartbroken dad, Clifton Watt, 63, said Kimel was "a wonderful son" who joined the Army right out of Automotive High School in Brooklyn, hoping to get computer training for a civilian career.

"He was really good with computers," the father said, but added sadly his son never got the training he sought.

"He just wanted to get a good job and help the family," the father said, sitting in the living room of the family home on Hemlock St. in East New York, his eyes welling.

"Now, he's gone, and I don't know if we can live without him."

Kimel leaves behind his mother, father and five siblings. Mr. President, how much more of this do we have to take?

Judge Garaufis Sides With Atlantic Yards Developers

Rich developers got a huge boost in their quest to build the Atlantic Yards from Judge Nicholas Garaufis today. He ruled against a small community of tenants, businesses and homeowners who would have to watch their little pieces of Brooklyn be demolished. The Judge claims that the area is "blighted" and therefore justifies the takeover of the area to make way for the new Nets basketball arena and high priced office and rental space.

From WNBC:

"Because plaintiffs concede that the project will create large quantities of housing and office space, as well as a sports arena, in an area that is mostly blighted," he wrote, no reasonable juror could conclude "that the 'sole purpose' of the project is to confer a private benefit."

Ratner released a statement calling the ruling "an important victory" for Brooklyn.

An attorney for the residents, Matthew Brinckerhoff, said he will appeal.

"We are confident that the appellate court will allow this case to proceed to trial, at which the citizens of New York will finally learn the real reason plaintiffs' properties were selected to be forcibly taken, and why Ratner was chosen to reap an unprecedented financial windfall," he said in a written statement.

The only victory here is for people like Ratner and his developer buddies. There is no joy here for Brooklyn.

It is a shame that Judge Garaufis decided that razing neighborhoods was a way to cure "blight." You know Judge, there are better ways of making a neighborhood better than just bulldozing it and giving it over to people like Bruce Ratner. NBA owners have enough money and this one doesn't need anymore, especially at the expensive of longtime Brooklyn residents. Thankfully this will go to the appellate court where some common sense can hopefully be found.

Markowitz Gets Tough On Atlantic Yards Opponents

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz is usually known as a comedic and affable guy that parades around Kings County. However the stunt he pulled yesterday against the leaders of Community Board 6 was far from funny. The Board was one of Atlantic Yards' most vocal critics, citing the massive building project would over tax streets, sewers and schools. Their condemnation of the development didn't have any teeth because it was a state operation, but Markowitz did not care for their opinions. So he let them go from their positions on the board.

From The New York Times:

In the case of Atlantic Yards, Community Board 6’s resolution last September, though strongly critical, was almost purely symbolic: the project is being managed by a state agency, the Empire State Development Corporation, and is exempt from the city land-use process.

But Celia Cacace, who has been on the board since the early 1980s — long before Mr. Markowitz was elected — said that he took her aside at a community event a few months ago to criticize her and her colleagues.

“He said, ‘I’m going to get rid of everybody on the board that voted for this,’ ” according to Ms. Cacace, 71, whose term expires next year. “He says, ‘Remember, you are my appointee.’ Every time I tried to say something he totally lambasted me.”

Treating an old lady like that is terrible and so is letting her go from her position. Despite the obvious pro-business bent that Marty has over the citizens of the area, there is no excuse to lambast anyone that volunteers time to help make their neighborhoods a better place to live in.

Although passionate civic leaders will try to fight to the end, it seems that stopping the project is a lost cause. There are lawsuits still pending on the matter, but I don't see any change in momentum to be very likely. The city wants the revenue that Atlantic Yards will create and has the state to back them up. Unfortunately it seems that the people have lost out on this one.

Boom And Bust In The Housing Market

For a few years many people were enticed by low mortgage rates offered by an insurance industry that suckered people into a bad situation. Senator Chuck Schumer released a report on the upcoming spike of foreclosures that is going to hit his hometown burrough of Brooklyn especially hard. The lenders that offered homeowners what looked like a good deal is going to leave thousands homeless.

From The Bayridge Courier:

The most popular “affordable” subprime loans are adjustable rate mortgages that offer an initial fixed rate that is set low.

But the rate resets after an initial fixed rate period to a more onerous rate that leads to a significantly higher mortgage payment that low-income borrowers will have difficulty affording, Schumer said.

Schumer’s analysis showed that in the next two years, 91,000 families will be at risk of foreclosure because of these lending practices. In the New York Metropolitan area alone, an estimated 53,000 families will see their mortgages reset to onerous rates, he said.

“The bottom line here is that the subprime bust is leading us right into a foreclosure boom, and thousands of Brooklyn residents will be left in the lurch,” Schumer said.

I think it is great that Senator Schumer is finally highlighting this serious issue that leaves thousands homeless from predatory lenders. My question is why did it take so long? Schumer is no stranger to the world of finance, thats for sure. The article also interviewed experts around New York on this and they have the same question.

Oda Friedheim, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society said the issue is nothing new.

“Too bad it took Wall Street’s pain to put the problem on the spotlight,” she said. “They have a bellyache because they swallowed too many bad loans,” she said.

“Our clients have been suffering for years under these abusive mortgages,” she added.

Deyanira Del Rio, the associate director of the Manhattan-based Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project has been tracking mortgage lending and foreclosure data for the past seven years.

“What we have seen is that consistently higher priced mortgage loans are overwhelmingly concentrated in neighborhoods that are overwhelmingly black and Latino,” she said, noting her group will soon release a study showing this trend.

So why the outrage now Senator? It is unfortunate that it has to come to this to help out people that have been targeted for financial exploitation. Hopefully his intentions are genuine and meant to help those in need and not the Wall Street crowd.

Marty Markowitz Owns The Crowd

On a much warmer Tuesday morning, Mayor Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz addressed a crowd at Prospect Park regarding the soon to be constructed Lakeside Recreation Center in the park. Replacing the 46 year old Wollman rink, this center would return the landscape to what it looked like when the park was created and add an additional ice skating rink. It is always nice to hear when one of our parks are restored and renovated, but this event turned out to be more about Markowitz than anyone else.

From The Empire Zone:

“Marty, have you spent a lot of time on the rink here?” Mr. Bloomberg asked, deadpan.

Seemingly impromptu, Mr. Markowitz replied, “In my day, if I had attempted a double lutz, they would have called me a triple yutz.”

“No, klutz,” Mr. Bloomberg joked.

“Klutz, yutz, it’s all the same,” Mr. Markowitz replied. “Now, after all that Junior’s cheesecake, I don’t think this is the kind of figure they’re talking about. I have more in common with Zamboni. And I want to issue a challenge today: when the Lakeside Center is complete, I will race the mayor in a new pedal boat for the right to call Brooklyn a city again.”

The potential 2009 mayoral candidate got a few chuckles from the remarks that stole the show from Bloomberg, but the finale really got the crowd going:

Let me tell you, it doesn’t get any more Brooklyn than Wollman Rink. Nowhere in the world, not even at the Olympics, will you find the diversity of skaters, figure-eighters and Icecapaders on display here. From African-American and Caribbean to Russian and Haitian, from Polish to Pakistani, from hipster to Hasidim, this rink, I might add, has always been, and will remain, one of the city’s most popular dating spots. Bet you a lot of you don’t know that. In fact, so many couples have fallen in love skating at Wollman Rink that having two rinks and being open year-round might just signal a population boom down the road. But hey, the more Brooklynites, to me, the merrier, and I know you feel that way, too. And I’m confident that for Prospect Park and for Brooklyn, double the ice will be twice as nice.

Marty certainly knows Brooklyn well and how to get the locals rolling in laughter. It will be interesting to see how the competition in 2009 shapes up and how Marty will take his place in that race. If anything, he seems to be able to run circles around the opposition, easily besting Bloomberg at this community event.