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Politics & Government

Markowitz Unveils Plans, Invites Apple to Brooklyn, and More in Address

The Brooklyn Borough President shared his goals for Brooklyn last night in his State of the Borough address

Fourth Avenue is due for a major overhaul, more attention will be paid to Brooklyn’s armories, and a challenge has been put forth to Apple to bring manufacturing to Kings County, said Borough President Marty Markowitz in his 2012 State of the Borough Address last night.

Addressing an audience of elected officials and about a thousand guests at Walt Whitman Hall at Brooklyn College, Markowitz emphasized the theme of “One Brooklyn,” highlighting Brooklyn’s increasing diversity.

Fourth Avenue Transformation

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During the speech, Markowitz expressed his desire , which runs through Boerum Hill, Park Slope, Gowanus, Sunset Park and Bay Ridge, into “a vibrant tree-lined thoroughfare” with shops and restaurants. Markowitz dubbed Fourth Avenue “Brooklyn Boulevard,” and said that in a first phase of renovation, funds were already allocated for .

Armory Renovations

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The Borough Prez also announced that he would pledge $1 million in capital funds for the Bedford-Union Armory, in Crown Heights, to renovate it as a community center, much like the Park Slope Armory. He said that work will soon begin on renovation efforts at the Bedford-Atlantic Armory, and.

3rd Ward’s Culinary Incubator

In Bushwick, the arts space and learning center 3rd Ward is set to receive a $1.5 million grant to build a culinary incubator to "provide culinary entrepreneurs with the tools, equipment, and workspace that they would otherwise not be able to afford,” the Beep also announced. The new culinary space will be in a separate building from 3rd Ward’s Morgan Avenue space, and will most likely open in Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, or East New York. 

An Apple Plant in Brooklyn?

Markowitz’s grandest statement of the evening, though, was a challenge to Apple CEO Tim Cook to bring manufacturing jobs to Brooklyn. With an unemployment rate “higher than the city average,” he wants to see the tech company manufacture its computers, iPhones and more in a facility in East New York or Brownsville. The move would bring jobs back to the United States, and would help the company with current allegations that factory workers overseas are mistreated and underpaid.

Though Markowitz has asked for the tech giant to , those plans were never realized.

“IBM did it in 1968 when they opened a factory in Bed-Stuy, and if IBM could do it then, Apple can do it now,” Markowitz said.

Markowitz asked Mayor Bloomberg to designate an area in East New York or Brownsville as a high-tech manufacturing zone, and even pledged $1 million to get the project started.

The Village Voice’s “Runnin’ Scared” blog calls the plan “unrealistic,” though, saying that the reason companies produce tech goods overseas is to skirt U.S. labor laws.

“It's easy to get people excited about Cornell's new university outpost on Roosevelt Island because the campus will be shiny and the research will be high profile – a manufacturing plant, by contrast, is not quite so glamorous,” the blog says.

The address also featured a  performance by 15-year-old Brownsville rapper Brian “Astro” Bradley, a finalist on the Fox television series "The X-Factor" and guest star of an upcoming episode of CBS’ "Person of Interest."

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