When Clowns Go Bad: Marty Markowitz Goes on a Rampage
I used to like Marty Markowitz. I remember greeting him as he crossed back over the Brooklyn Bridge in the NARAL march for Choice just before the Republican Convention. I liked his seeming combination of liberal politics and jovial, well, clownishness.
Only slowly did I begin to realize that behind that jovial exterior lurked a vindictive little shit that began emerging over the past couple of years. Markowitz is now showing that nasty, vindictive side as he fires members of Community Board 6 who failed to blindly support Markowitz's master, Bruce Ratner.
I have now heard this from three sources, so I can report on it. Not one source has yet agreed to be public. But collectively they tell me that Marty Markowitz has become a raging nut case, yelling at people in public and threatening people right and left. One person has, in all seriousness, called Marty's sanity into question. Markowitz seems to have snapped.
His most recent lashing out is at Community Board 6 (I know for certain) and possibly other Community Boards. Markowitz had appointed people in hopes that they would sign on to Bruce Ratner's project faithfully and blindly, much as Pataki was able to do with the much tamer Empire State Development Corporation. Ignore the fact that Ratner has filed no business plan and is expecting taxpayers to foot the bills for him, Ratner demanded and Markowitz wanted to deliver...but it didn't work that way. The Community Boards showed they actually had some scruples and some sense of serving...well, the COMMUNITY, not just millionaire developers who happened to be Pataki's law school crony.
Now I hear the letters have gone out. It is Revenge of the Clown as Markowitz fires anyone on the Community Boards (again, I know this for certain about Community Board 6 and possibly others) who has shown any spine in standing up for the community against Ratner.
I have been to Community Board 6. I wasn't expecting much, but I found that it was an impressive, serious body that really was trying to do a good job. I came away feeling pretty good about them and wishing I had the time to become more involved with them. They struck me as a bunch of smart, dedicated people. But Markowitz wants yes-men, not smart, dedicated people. So he is sweeping them aside, presumably in preparation for appointing a bunch of yes-men.
Rumors have been flying as to what office Markowitz will run for next. Mayor and Public Advocate are top of the list. But if he really plans to run for citywide office, isn't it rather stupid for him to make a huge bunch of enemies in the very Borough that would be the base of his support? Is he stupid as well as vindictive? I never thought he was that stupid, but perhaps I was wrong. Then again, a couple of people have commented that Markowitz should just give up the ruse and take a job with Ratner.
Last time I saw Marty was at the IND dinner. He worked the crowd just fine, I suppose. But he didn't seem the same to me as he used to. Perhaps once you know someone is privately an asshole, the public joviality isn't quite as funny anymore. I found him less like the cheerful buddy he used to seem and more like the family drunk who thinks he's funny but really is just a giant embarrassment to the whole family. Perhaps firing the Community Boards for doing their job is just a sign Marty has lost control of his rage. Things are not going to be pretty folks.
Marty is petty and mean
Great post and important information. Let's not forget that Marty tried to exact revenge against both Ken Diamondstone and Chris Owens, two true comrades in the struggle to protect our communities.
Ken's position on CB-7 was temporarily not "renewed" because of his forceful stand against AY. It took a press conference and a big show of support for Ken for Marty to back down and say it was just a paperwork glitch.
Then Marty insulted Chris Owens by singling him out as the only candidate in the CD 10 race that was not worthy of Marty's friendship or good wishes. Why? Because he considered and called Chris a traitor for not endorsing him in the BP race. Of course, this was after Marty endorsed Bloomberg!
I can just imagine what Marty's campaign slogan for Mayor will be --- a professional sports complex in every borough!
grassroots democracy
You can't "fire" a volunteer
"Fire" is not the right word. "Failure to reappoint" would be more accurate. Now, I don't know if Marty is clearing out CB6 members who oppose Atlantic Yards, but regardless, there would be no need to sensationalize an account by saying the borough president "fired" community board members. They are unpaid appointees. And they are appointees of the borough president (half of CB members are nominated by City Council members, the other half by the BP, but all are technically appointed by the BP). The ones appointed by Marty are certainly subject to being replaced by him, as crude and unfair as that may seem to some. And we know Marty is a big booster of Atlantic Yards, and considers some opponents to be sanctimonious, disingenuous obstructionists. Just like some opponents consider AY supporters to be corrupt lackeys and sellouts.
That said, Atlantic Yards is a state project and did not go through ULURP; hence, CB 6 didn't even have an advisory role. No one should think there was an attempt to rig a vote on the project...Though I should note that CB members do vote on district managers' contract renewals.
I covered CB 6 for four years in the early 1990s, but I don't claim to have great insight into the board any more. I will say that appointing CB members is one of the few powers that BPs have any more, so I am never as shocked as others are when BPs use that power.
Good points
As to the revenge for AY, the CB have been trying hard to represent the community's interests on this and I have heard directly from people that Marty ATTRIBUTED his refusal to reappoint (good point there) as getting back for disloyalty regarding AY. My sources basically say Marty TOLD them this was what he was doing.
I was not a witness to this, but my sources are pretty good.
You can "fire" staff
Are you suggesting their District Manager ought to be looking for another job?
Hey Erik. As you now Craig
Hey Erik. As you now Craig Hammerman is appaointed, but paid. And as you know Marty will not re-appoint him. And as you know it is because of Craig's position on Atlantic Yards. And as you know Craig Hammerman is responsible for running perhaps the most effiecnet and transparent community board in the city.
Sure Marty is a big booster of Atlantic Yards, but it is he who is the sanctimonious one, pretending to "MAKE IT WORK FOR ALL OF BROOKLYN" when in reality all he cares about his getting a pro team back in the borough, something most folks seem to care about not at all.
Fifth Avenue Commitee
Interesting. The vindictive Marty Markowitz is also "taking it out" on Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC) for standing with the BrooklynSpeaks coalition and speaking out against Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards debacle.
Markowitz gave marching orders to Bill "I'm-all-about-affordable-housing" de Blasio to stand with him against FAC (a group that has a decades-long history of building real affordable housing and creating and running employment and education programs) and the organization's plan to develop senior and low-income housing in South Slope.
The community supports FAC's plan and is already poised to push back if the organization runs into any political obstacles. So, just try us Marty!
More fodder for thought
Ditto on the conclusion.
Marty Markowitz's emotional, spit-spewing (really felt sorry for those in the first row), red-in-the-face defense of Bruce Ratner and his belly-aching about project critics is really something that every Brooklynite should witness.
Markowitz has come a long way from "people of good will can disagree" and "my mother always taught me that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all" (link).
It's now payback time for Fifth Avenue Committee, as Marty has been threatening to block a project in South Slope which has wide community support.
Don't forget the infamous Brooklyn Paper interview where Marty used the F-word (more than once) and complained that project opponents care more about Atlantic Yards than Osama bin Laden (overlooking repeated requests by neighborhood groups for a comprehensive terrorism and security review).
If Brooklyn's Clown Prince IS descending into madness, the outstanding question for local historians will be, does the political psychodrama betray a guilty conscience?
Give me a break. Community
Give me a break. Community Board 6 is utterly non-representative of its neighborhoods -- the average age is probably something like 55 -- and it is poorly run as well. Granted, Marty is a vindictive clown, as you note.
He IS an embarrassment...
The first time I ever saw Marty in person was coming across the Brooklyn Bridge the day of the blackout. There was Tubby on the Brooklyn side, wearing a tank shirt and waving his arms like a spastic cheerleader, yelling "Go, Brooklyn." I thought: is that necessary? Couldn't he find something to make himself useful? It was unbecoming behavior for a public official. How can we take seriously such a buffoon?
Then there was the embarrassing TV commercials he ran for his reelection. The music, ugh! Singing his name repeatedly to the tune of the William Tell Overture - now, here's a guy who takes himself a little too seriously. But the worse part was that in the montage of pictures used, there was Marty wearing NO SHIRT. Bare-chested! I have NEVER seen any politician use a beefcake shot in a campaign ad (although in Marty's case it would be called a ham shoulder or fatback shot). Great, the guy lost some weight, good for him, but does he have to expose himself to everybody.
This is a pretty clear indication that the guy has a few loose screws. When I hear that the guy actually has notions about running for mayor, I have to wonder if he has gotten high from smelling his own farts. Mayor? How about running for Mayor of McDonald Town when Mayor McCheese retires?
And the guy is corrupt, a sellout. The way he has kowtowed to Bloomberg and Ratner - he is ruining Brooklyn. There ought to be an investigation of all three. The sweetheart deals Bloomberg has been handing out, with Marty at his beck and call, and don't get me started on Ratner (the King of Tacky).
Don't get too close to Marty. His breath smells like ass.
Sweatheart deals and bad breath
Honestly I don't care what Marty's breath smells like. Maybe he's like me and loves garlic. Or maybe he has a medical disorder. Who knows. But the stink of corruption does bother me. Now the firing...sorry, failure to reappoint CB members is not corruption. But it does show that Marty only wants yes men, something that we have seen can lead to disasterous consequences as we watch Bush and his yes men ruin our country. And the way Marty has been rampaging around beating his chest like a silverback shows he has lost control over himself...and worse, politically, he is losing control of his image.
Having said that, Marty Markowitz and Mikey Bloomberg's ties to Ratner are corrupt and disgusting. Everything surrounding Ratner stinks worse than ass. No business plan, the city buying the land for him with our tax money, and oy! the sweatheart deals giving him MORE land in the future to develop with even LESS review. Now much of that corruption seems to come from Pataki and Bloomberg rather than Marty. But Marty is a player in the game, giving a happy face to the corruption, until the mask slips and people see the angry man behind that mask. Marty has been the stooge that tries to convince the public that shit stinks like roses and giving Ratner the land for free is somehow a good thing. But you can't do that if you start to look like a bully. And THAT is what he is starting to look like. No longer the man who makes it all look happy, he is now the petty thief who is trying to be the boss's hitman. And it isn't going to impress too many people.
His breath...that I don't care about. Cheap shot, even if true. And if he wants to bare his chest, sure tacky, but this is NYC. We like a bit of showmanship. But vindictive, petty little brats are not popular. And Marty once knew that.
Marty Bears Responsibility for DEIS Hearing
Last August, the ESDC held the public hearing on the Atlantic Yards Environmental Impact Statement. Whether you like the project or not, this should have been an important event. It was the only official hearing on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. It was pretty much the only chance for the public to speak.
It turned into a fiasco, with a lot of bullying. Ratner supporters even offered testimony that they would beat up all the people who opposed the project. Ratner supporters booed anyone who suggested anything that might delay the project- they booed Tish James when she said she went to the funeral of an 11 year-old girl who died from asthma. These thugs did not even want the death of a young girl to be mentioned, because it might delay the project.
Marty Markowitz certainly did nothing to calm down the situation. I believe Marty Markowitz helped orchestrate this event.
After this hearing, I also lost any appreciation of Marty's clownishness. It is my impression that he helped stoke the flames of racism to promote his personal goals. That is inexcusable. It is contemptible even.
The most recent news is that the idea of the sports arena wasn't even Marty's. He has been lying, saying that it was his idea, because the developer needs as much cover to pretend that the Atlantic Yards proposal is a Civic Project. That's a legal necessity for the procedure the developer has chosen.
The developers wanted the Atlantic Yards to go through the state procedures because they allow for less public input. From the beginning, Marty Markowitz gave up local control of this project. That is also inexcusable. His job is to represent Brooklyn, and by making the ESDC the lead agency, he abrogated his control. He abrogated his responsibility. He failed to do what he was elected to do.
The unfortunate thing is that he is incredibly popular.
CB 6's district manager
I wasn't suggesting that Craig Hammerman start looking for a job. I was suggesting that when borough presidents and council members start replacing community board members en masse, often the reason is to replace the district manager. But to my knowledge, no massive turnover is happening on CB 6. Hammerman's been the d.m. for about 15 years (he was the assistant d.m. in the very early 1990s and took over the job when Bob Acito died), so it would be precipitous to predict his ouster. That said, stranger things have happened -- recall Bill Casey's unceremonious dismissal as superintendent of School District 15. Of course, that took only five votes, not 26. Casey was crushed, but he ended up with a better job and more money, as I'm sure Hammerman would.
My sources say...
Now, my sources on the mass replacement are pretty good and I trust them, particularly since I have heard it from three sources. As to Hammerman's replacement, I am hearing that from one source. I do predict that, though based on less info than I am predicting the replacement of many CB members.
Craig the Hammer
Replace enough board members and there will be no need to replace the District Manager. Craig has always been very careful about measuring the board's consensus and going with the flow. When he has an opportunity, he's only too happy to guide it, but he's not in the business of standing in front of a tidal wave holding an umbrella. Like any good chef, Craig will cook to order.