The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, one of the great cheerleaders for demolishing the Abolitionist and Underground Railroad history on Duffield Street, are losing some of their generous taxpayer support. While schools and firehouses are facing massive cuts, Borough President Marty Markowitz came to the defense of the highly-capitalized partnership:Markowitz indicated the city should continue to help defray the cost of running the DBP.
“I applaud Downtown Brooklyn Partnership’s work, and it is absolutely critical that the City continue to support our vibrant downtown — New York City’s third largest business district — and emphasize economic development here as new hotels, Class A office space, residential developments and retail businesses come on line,” said Markowitz.
But City Council member Lew Fidler feels that DBP salaries are too high, with several members getting fairly high six-figure salaries, including President Joe Chan, who makes $220,000.
“There are other ways of planning for and promoting downtown Brooklyn other than an organization funded with public money,” said Fidler. “There’s already a lot of big developers and BID (Business Improvement Districts) that can contribute.”
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