For The Record

In introducing Mayor Bloomberg to the audience gathered at New York City Technical College for the State of the City speech, Borough President Marty Markowitz referred wistfully to "the City of Brooklyn," prompting the Mayor to subsequently remark, "Unfortunately, Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs, not a separate city."

Unfortunately, he meant, for Mr. Markowitz, although he seems to be doing his best to remedy the problem by raising money for a mayoral run of his own in 2009. Even the Man from Medford, however, is probably aware that until the great consolidation of 1898, Brooklyn was an independent city - the third-largest in the nation, as a matter of fact, and had its own Mayor.

That happened to be Frederick W. Wurster, one of those rare politicians who was selfless enough to cost himself a job by going along with the consolidation for the betterment of the modern City of New York.

There isn't much information available about his tenure, but what we do know suggests he governed in a way that did justice to the tenor of the borough, then and now. In 1896, he attempted to enforce an ordinance barring saloons from opening on Sundays, but when proprietors and customers alike openly defied it, he yielded to popular sentiment.

And when the leader of an anti-temperance group railed against the revelry that was common in Coney Island by comparing it to the debauchery in Sodom, Mr. Wurster, according to "Sodom by the Sea," a wonderful 1941 book by Oliver Pilat and Jo Ransom, told reporters that if that sort of publicity kept up, there wouldn't be enough room in Coney for all the people who would want to come there.

Mr. Bloomberg may prove Mr. Markowitz a prophet in predicting that "he will go down as one of New York City's best mayors ever," but we doubt he will ever match Mayor Wurster's wit in defense of a neighborhood of his city.

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Firefighters who have donated bone marrow to people suffering from cancer or blood disorders were feted Jan. 19 at the 3rd Annual Honor Roll of Life ceremony hosted by the New York Blood Center.

At the event Firefighter Stephen Duffy met 18-year-old Samantha Alcazar, his bone marrow recipient from Guadalajara, Mexico. Firefighter Robert O'Neill met his recipient, John Deeney, a retired college professor from Dover, Delaware. Three-time bone marrow donor Capt. William Connolly was reunited with Nancy Johnson, who in 1996 received his first life-saving gift.

The names of 82 firefighters who have donated bone marrow over the years are listed on a plaque at Fire Department headquarters in Brooklyn. The FDNY is currently the single largest bone-marrow registry group, with more than 8,000 firefighters on the list.

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Actress and political activist Ruby Dee will discuss her new book - a compilation of her late husband Ossie Davis's speeches - at the Jan. 29 Author's Talk program sponsored by District Council 37's Education Fund.

The book, "Life Lit by Some Large Vision: Selected Speeches and Writings of Ossie Davis," contains his writings on civil rights and the theatre as well as speeches, eulogies and letters."

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts said of Ms. Dee in a statement, "She and Ossie Davis have been role models as activists and artists for generations."

The event will begin at 6 p.m. next Monday in the union's headquarters at 125 Barclay St.

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Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. Jan. 19 presented a symbolic $100,000 check to Bronx Community College to train borough residents for building trades jobs. A real check in that amount for that purpose will be coming from the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation.

The money is a byproduct of the $500-million Gateway Center, a million-square-foot mall that is due to open in 2009 on the site of the old Bronx Terminal Market at East 149th St.

The college's veteran Project H.I.R.E. Project Director, Glenda Self, will manage the 20-week training program.