Howard
Golden, who as Brooklyn borough president for a quarter-century pressed
to strengthen the borough economically and defended it against slights
real or perceived in the years before it experienced a gentrifying
revival, died on Wednesday at his home in the Kensington section of
Brooklyn. He was 98.
His death was confirmed by his daughter Michele Golden.
A
brash, blunt and savvy product of the Brooklyn Democratic machine, Mr.
Golden, whose clipped and gravelly tones often conveyed caustic
criticisms of those who crossed him, doubled as the Democratic Party
leader in Brooklyn during seven of his 25 years as borough president.
The
party post made him a kingpin in determining who would get party
backing in legislative and judicial primaries in Brooklyn, a heavily
Democratic borough where winning the Democratic nomination was usually
tantamount to being elected.
A
reduction of the borough presidents’ powers occurred midway through Mr.
Golden’s tenure, a result of a municipal reorganization approved by
voters in 1989. The change abolished the Board of Estimate, which had
been one of the city’s two top policy-making bodies, along with the City
Council, and which comprised the mayor, the Council president, the city
comptroller and the five borough presidents.
The board had the
power, along with the City Council, to approve the city’s budget and,
without the Council, to determine the use of city-owned property and
enter into contracts on behalf of the city. Having a vote in those key
decisions had given borough presidents most of their governmental power.
Mr.
Golden was vehement in opposing the abolition of the board, which had
been proposed by a commission appointed to recommend revisions of the
City Charter.
When the commission held
a public hearing in Brooklyn to discuss its proposals, Mr. Golden did
not mince words. “As an act of courtesy, I welcome you to Brooklyn,” he
told the commissioners. “I must say that your visit here today is not a
beneficial one.”
It was undisputed,
however, that changes in how the city was run had to be made. The United
States Supreme Court had ruled that the Board of Estimate’s voting
structure was unconstitutional, because it violated the one-person,
one-vote principle by allotting one vote to each borough president even
though the populations of the boroughs varied widely in size.
Read the rest of the obituary here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/24/nyregion/howard-golden-dead.html
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