Carlo Scissura will not be Brooklyn’s next Borough President — the fund-raising frontrunner has dropped his campaign to assume the presidency of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, instead.
Borough President Markowitz’s right-hand man said abandoning his quest to succeed his term-limited boss in 2013 was “a tough decision.”
“My primary focus was doing good, positive things to grow Brooklyn and being the president of the chamber allows me to do that,” said Scissura. “In the end that’s why the chamber won out.”
“I do things based on what contributions I can make and were it not for this incredible opportunity I would be running,” he said.
The Dyker Heights attorney has been actively campaigning for the top job in the county since last fall and raised $127,000 since the beginning of this year — cash he says will be returned in full to his contributors.
He faced considerable obstacles to the Kings throne, as rivals Assemblyman Nick Perry (D–Flatbush), State Sen. Dan Squadron (D–Brooklyn Heights) and State Sen. Eric Adams (D–Prospect Heights) have all contemplated a run for the seat.
But when the chamber parted ways with former CEO Carl Hum earlier this year, Scissura expressed interest and emerged as a favorite candidate to run the borough’s business association in the past two weeks.
Mayor Bloomberg said the chamber’s choice is “superb” and there is “no one better to take the helm.”
“He represents the best of everything Brooklyn has to offer and has continually turned big ideas into real action and results,” said Bloomberg. “I know he will do the same for the chamber and I congratulate them on a superb choice.”
Scissura credited his experience in Borough Hall for helping him understand the needs of small business owners, entrepreneurs, and shopkeepers — and says he learned a lot from Markowitz, his mentor and friend.
The Beep expressed regret that his top aide would be leaving his office, comparing his relationship with Scissura to a “proud parent who has mixed emotions when their children leave home.”
But Scissura’s time at Borough Hall wasn’t without its pratfalls — the city fined Markowitz $2,000 last year because Scissura represented his boss as a personal lawyer when the Borough President bought a house.
Scissura is one of several former Markowitz staffers who have recently left Borough Hall for prominent positions.
Former deputy Borough President Yvonne Graham took an associate commissioner job in the State Department of Health under the Cuomo administration.
And former Markowitz spokesman Eric Demby co-founded the Brooklyn Flea — the antiques market that has brought thousands of shoppers to the Williamsburg waterfront, Fort Greene, and DUMBO.
Scissura starts his new job in September.
Reach reporter Aaron Short at ashort@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2547.
