"Tax Rich White Men," Councilman And Mayoral Hopeful Tells CB 18 Meeting

By D. Rybstein

"Tax rich white men," City Councilman and mayoral hopeful Charles Barron said as he put forth a portion of his campaign platform at
a recent meeting of Community Board 18 held at the Kings Plaza Community Room.

While other local politicians
or their representatives were content with wishing those in attendancea happy holiday season, a serious Barron, representing East New York, Brownsville, and parts of Canarsie, addressed the pre-holiday crowd
with his ideas on balancinga looming "$1.8 billion budget deficit for
New York City," he said.

Some in attendance could be seen with smirks on their faces, while
others gasped at the racial element of his remarks. One attendee shot back sarcastically, "Why not tax everybody and everything while you’re at it?"

Other Barron suggestions included reinstating the commuter tax "because city services are also provided to those from out-of-town who work here."

The councilman stated that in his opinion "the affluent need to pay more in taxes "because minorities have endured financial pain."

Following the lead of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who, shortly after his own inauguration, made news by removing a
portrait of a founding father from
his stately Borough Hall chambers, Barron said he felt that the time
is ripe for portraits of city fathers now hanging in City Hall, where the city council meets, to be replaced with those of people of color to
better reflect their contributions
to society.

After having raised the political temperature in the room, Barron smiled and wished the crowd his best wishes, then turned to Chairman Saul Needle and apologized for not attending past meetings while promising to be a fixture in the future.

In further business, the board voted in favor of an application to allow Nick’s Lobster House on Flatbush Ave. to expand its operations but denied an application for Three Guy’s Car Service to set up a base of operations on Conklin Ave.

In addition, various liquor license renewals were approved for local
area businesses.

It was announced that the Paedergat branch of the Brooklyn Public Library on East 59 Street will remain closed due to construction next door that undermined its structure. There is no word yet on when it will reopen.

New ceilings and floors were also slated for the Mill Basin branch on Ralph Avenue.

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