Brooklyn Heights

Brooklyn Chamber and Brooklyn Historical Society launch ‘The Business of Brooklyn’

Exhibit’s grand opening celebrates the chamber’s 100th anniversary

February 23, 2018 By John Alexander Brooklyn Daily Eagle
From left: Former Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Brooklyn Chamber President and CEO Andrew Hoan (at podium), Chamber board Chairwoman Denise Arbesu and former Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. Eagle photos by Arthur De Gaeta
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It was a grand, grand opening for the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce (BCC) and the Brooklyn Historical Society’s (BHS) new “The Business of Brooklyn” exhibit at 128 Pierrepont St. on Thursday.

The event brought out a Mount Rushmore of Brooklyn borough presidents including current Borough President Eric Adams and his predecessors, Marty Markowitz and Howard Golden.

Those attending included BCC President and Ceo Andrew Hoan, BHS President Deborah Schwartz and TD Bank Vice President Dr. Yvonne Riley-Tepie.

“The Business of Brooklyn” was sponsored by TD Charitable Foundation in celebration of the Chamber’s 100th anniversary. The exhibit features a variety of artifacts from businesses that started in Brooklyn throughout the last century including several from the Chamber’s early days. 

Hoan told the Brooklyn Eagle that this was an occasion to look at how much the entrepreneurs, big businesses and small businesses have influenced the borough’s economy and growth. He was also delighted to have the three borough presidents in attendance.

“That’s 41 years of borough presidents,” Hoan said. “It’s a long time and they really have contributed in their own unique way to the borough’s development. It’s exciting and we are so humbled to be able to do this with these great people at the Brooklyn Historical Society. It’s just an incredible space with so many members and friends.”

Hoan discussed the importance of “The Business of Brooklyn.” “The exhibit is 100 years but goes a little bit further back,” he said. “It’s about the street, the retail, the mom and pop shops and the development of the borough’s main streets. It talks about the big manufacturers that made the borough great.”

Some of those manufacturers and brands that originated in the borough include Domino sugar, Benjamin Moore paint, Gretsch guitars and Bazooka gum.

Hoan introduced the event’s first speaker, Robert Catell, chairman of the board of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC) at Stony Brook University.

Catell, a former BCC chairman, was recently honored for his public service to Brooklyn at the Chamber’s centennial gala, which took place on Feb. 10 at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge. He congratulated the Chamber for its efforts and especially his dear friend Golden, who he said served as Brooklyn borough president for 24 years, the longest serving borough president.

“Howard is the guy who had the vision of what Brooklyn could become,” Catell said. “He fought hard to overcome many obstacles. He was the driving force who brought about tremendous change in the borough of Brooklyn. Now I know many people take credit for the Brooklyn renaissance, but it all started with Howard and he deserves much of the credit for what we celebrate today.”

BCC Board Chairwoman Denise Arbesu thanked all the members for their support. “I started working in Brooklyn in 1994,” Arbesu said. “I have seen so much growth, development and change …  and Brooklyn is as strong as ever and I know we’re looking beyond the next 100 to 500 years.”

TD Bank’s Riley-Tepie said that the exhibits “show the way business, life and consumer culture have evolved in the borough throughout the last century. It chronicles the culture of the borough and gives us a sense of far we have come not only as a borough but as a country. I’m sure we all agree that where Brooklyn goes the world follows.”

Brooklyn Historical Society President Deborah Schwartz said BHS was thrilled to be partnering with the Chamber on this project. She explained how history is entirely about where we are now and where we are going in the future. “And to have this opportunity to reflect upon the history of business in Brooklyn and the Chamber and its role was really a remarkable process,” Schwartz said.

She also announced that Golden, Markowitz and Adams would all receive a lifetime membership to the Brooklyn Historical Society.

Independent curator Thomas Mellins, who helped create “The Business of Brooklyn,” exhibit explained its importance to the Eagle.

“The exhibition takes a broad look at the history of business in Brooklyn, from 19th-century breweries and sugar refineries, to today’s “bean-to-bar” chocolate producers,” Mellins said. 

“It also documents the role of financial institutions and organizations. As the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce has demonstrated for the past 100 years, civics and commerce can together make important contributions not only to establishing and maintaining a healthy economy, but also to supporting communities and creating a compelling sense of place,” he added.

Golden said that everything begins and ends in Brooklyn. “My story begins in 1977 when Brooklyn was not a very wonderful town,” said Golden. “I had just finished a tour in the City Council and I kept my ears and eyes open because I knew that I was aiming for one spot and this was it … I knew from day one that I would be the borough president of Brooklyn.”

Hoan introduced Markowitz by calling him a good leader who encouraged his staff to want to go on to do great things. He praised Markowitz’s passion and commitment adding, “He is Brooklyn. And that’s what I think we’re all proud of — someone who looks, walks, talks and acts like Brooklyn.”

Markowitz said that his goal was to promote Brooklyn as a brand. “I knew we had a gem in Brooklyn,” Markowitz said. “So what we had to do was really brand Brooklyn. We knew what we had. We knew that we were growing as a creative community. We knew that techies were moving to Brooklyn in major numbers. We knew the attractiveness of Brooklyn, the dynamic, diverse community … and we wanted to build on that.”

He added that Brooklyn is still as dynamic as it was when he was growing up in the borough. He explained that he felt it was his job to brand Brooklyn and make it “attractive for young people to move here, attract businesses to open here … and help promote Brooklyn throughout the country.”

Adams praised the legacy of his predecessors. “We built on the foundation of Borough President Golden, and took the energy and spirit of Marty Markowitz who made it popular to be from Brooklyn.” He spoke about the diversity and ethnicity found throughout the borough from Williamsburg to Bay Ridge. He evoked laughter when he said that “even Greenpoint has a new ethnic group, the hipsters who have moved in.”

He received a round of applause when he said that Markowitz and Golden may not always have been on the same page but “you’re the same book.”

Adams added that Brooklyn’s popularity must translate into prosperity for every Brooklynite. He emphasized that we must also set an example for young people and keep them engaged and employed because “if you have the steel hand of a hammer in your hand, you don’t have the steel hand of a gun in your hand.”

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