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Marty Markowitz And Next Year’s Mayoral Race

Before I get into this column, let me preface it a bit. At this point in time, I am strongly leaning towards supporting Bill Thompson in next year’s mayoral race. I finally got to that place while I was in Miami for a wedding, about two weeks ago. Some political friends that I respect convinced me to come aboard the Billy Thompson train; so I am heading there. I must also confess that although I still have a weak spot for councilmember Avella, I am realistic enough to recognize when a candidate will not be competitive unless he can raise much more money than Avella has. I have had my share (and fill) of symbolic runs at public office, if I support a candidate now he or she must have a realistic shot at winning. I am getting too old for all that insurgent “protest” shit.

So with all that as a backdrop, why am I writing a column about Marty Markowitz? Only because I hate when political people talk crap, that’s why. I hate when elected officials and political activists (black, white, brown, whatever) with big mouths, try to denigrate my political opinions.

You see over the last couple years, I have had some heated discussions with quite a few people (I wouldn’t name them here) that Marty Markowitz is a viable mayoral candidate. And before you go deep on me, let me say that I know if Marty runs, he will hurt both Billy Thompson’s and Anthony Weiner’s chances a bit; but that’s not the point. Since 1984 I have worked to unseat Markowitz; I stopped in 2001 after he won Brooklyn’s borough presidency. I was never a Marty fan -unlike many of my Caribbean-American brothers and sisters; but again that’s another story. When he ran for Boro Prez in 2001, I supported one of his opponents (Ken Fisher). Marty has a long memory/lol.

In 2004, I was running for district leader when both he and I happened to be on a podium in front of thousands of people. It was an event in Brooklyn’s Pakistani/Asian-American community on Coney Island Avenue. I leaned over to Marty and said; “how about endorsing me for district leader right here and now (at the East-Indian /Pakistani event)”.
He replied: “Hackshaw, did you endorse me when I ran for Boro Prez?”
I said: “No”.

Then with typical Marty scowl he gave a one-word reply: “Well!”
No endorsement for me kids. LMAO.

In 1986 and 1988 scores of us went after then State Senator Marty with a candidate named Maurice Gumbs. We learned the hard way that Marty is as skillful a politician as they come. Not only did he infiltrate our “coconut” base, he actually claimed to have been born in Tunapuna, Trinidad. Maurice was born just a few miles east of that lil town. Then he hooked with the Mighty Sparrow (Calypso King of the world) and initiated a West-Indian (eventually Caribbean-American) concert night, wherein he brought performers from the islands to entertain. It is still a hit all these years later.

Marty has held hundreds of summer concerts over the last quarter century, using performers of all musical genres. Millions of people have attended. People come from all over the city, Long Island, and even from upstate New York. Others come from as far as New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Marty’s name recognition is much higher than many in politics believe. Plus, he has been Brooklyn’s biggest cheerleader for all his life. If he decides to run for the mayoralty, I believe he will win Brooklyn.

In all the early polls taken so far, Marty has done real well. He has even lead in a couple. This has been surprising to many but not to me. I expected this. I have been vindicated. The chances of Marty becoming our next mayor is slim; but don’t kid yourself folks: he has a shot.

Stay tuned-in folks.

Rock Hackshaw's picture

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mole333's picture

Does he have a shot?

Sure...developer money alone gives him a shot. But can he keep his demeanor amiable through the whole campaign season or will his vindictive, petty side come out.

People don't like Marty the way they once did. See, unlike you, I was a fan at first. I think that peaked as Joy and I were marching with Planned Parenthood the day before the Republican Convention across the Brooklyn Bridge. Marty was on his way back as we were starting to cross, and we shouted at him and he replied. He came off nice, liberal and a man of the people. Yeah...I know. I was young and naive at the time.

First thing he did that I didn't like was change from being Brooklyn's cheerleader to being Bruce Ratner's cheerleader. As far as I know he remains Ratner's cheerleader even as Ratner backs away from every single promise he ever made, disillusioning even people like Bill de Blasio. Even Bloomberg has had more reservations about Ratner than Markowitz has. There is a kind of blind obedience to Ratner that Marty shows that is actually disgusting in its obsequiousness.

Then Marty has made two endorsements I don't like. He endorsed Bloomberg for re-election. Fine, many people did. But then Marty threw a petty temper tantrum because people like Chris Owens retaliated by endorsing Gloria Mattera against Marty. He whined publicly about disloyalty to the Democratic Party when people endorsed the Green, completely ignoring his own endorsement of a Republican. Whatever one's view of Party loyalty, to condemn others for exactly what you did yourself shows either deep hypocrisy or such a level of stupidity that he didn't evey recognize he was being hypocritical.

Then there was the Noach Dear endorsement. Not only was this a stupid move on Marty Markowitz's party (endorsing a known homophobe pissed off the gay and lesbian community that formerly supported Marty) but it showed his complete lack of concern for actual governance: endorsing a man who never practiced law in his life and was considered unqualified by the bar assn for a judgeship in Brooklyn really shows Marty doesn't care about Brooklyn.

Which leaves almost nothing for me to like about Marty.

At one point Marty was so unpopular he actually got booed at one of his concerts in Prospect Park. Not sure if that has happened this year (haven't heard that it had) but it sure did last year.

sidnora's picture

Vanishingly small shot

as of this writing, the Brooklyn Paper reports that Marty's fundraising lags far behind that of the other mayoral hopefuls - so far behind, in fact, that it appears he's not serious about running anymore. Of course, it's possible that Ratner will lay a huge amount of money on him, but at this point it would have to be in the 7-figure range to be meaningful.

While they report that he is still leading voter preference polls, I attribute that to high name recognition as Brooklyn's cheerleader and concert promoter, combined with relatively little attention to this race as yet. If he persists into next year, when people are less distracted by national politics and ready to focus on the mayoralty, any one of the other contenders could easily embarrass him into dropping out. He's simply not in the same class.

Sorry I'm a little late posting on this, but I've been busy lately. ;^)

Gothanonymous Reader's picture

What's the point

I must say, all of your postings have absolutely no point except for feeding your insatiable ego. This entire post was about you with a dash of Markowitz. The only factual information you used has been reported weeks ago by traditional media. Maybe this is the year all of the bloggers should just go away.

P.S. Your writing style leaves much to be desired.

mole333's picture

For the record

For the record:

a.) Us bloggers ain't going away any time soon, so get used to it.

b.) Rock Hackshaw, ego and all, is more than welcome around here. Get used to THAT as well.

If those two things don't deter you, welcome to our site. If they do deter you, then no one is forcing you to hang out here.

ROCK. 's picture

THANKS MOLE.

Thanks for coming to my assistance Mole. I could only say to my detractor that I have almost two hundred columns on the blogs, over the over the past three years; plus I have many many pieces in various threads on various blog sites. Further, I have had pieces in newspapers and magazines that have been widely distributed; and guess what: the response has been overwhelmingly positive. And despite the fact that you are entitled to your opinion about my writing style and content, it is a minority one. I would hope that someday you would have the courage to use your own name and write something for me to look at and comment on. Until then; keep hitting out at me for no real reason; I am sure it is fun for you.

A ROCK FAN 's picture

great put down..........

ROCK, I love the way you put down the coward of 5:53pm. The point is that you are one of the top political bloggers in New York. No doubt. We love to read your stuff because you keep it real.

Harry's picture

the point is simple.........

It is a simple point that Rock is making. Marty has a longshot at becoming our next mayor. It is an opinion. Rock is entitled to it. What's your point beside trying to rag him? Why don't you express your opinion in a blog?

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Michael Bouldin is a consultant to the NY DSCC on web strategy and netroots stuff. Rock Hackshaw consults with Congressman Ed Towns' re-election campaign. Liza Sabater has recently done work on Norman Siegel's campaign for Public Advocate. Mole333 is a member of the board of IND and a member of the Brooklyn Democratic Committee.

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