Mr. Board suffered from a worsening case of impotency, spread by the Bloomberg Virus. He finally succumbed to complications due to the Charter Revision Bacillus.
Born in 1951, Mr. Board had a healthy and active childhood and young adulthood, nurtured by several succeeding city administrations. Early on, he empowered residents of Brooklyn and the other boroughs have a direct effect on city policies and actions.
But after Mr. Board was first diagnosed with the illness in the 1990s, he soon became frail and unresponsive.
In the months before his death, he put up appearances, trying to convince residents that he still had the vitality and impact of his youth. He convened monthly meetings, prepared agendas, and gave the residents speaking time.
But his rapidly deteriorating health became evident as his chairpersons would continually say, “We have no authority to do that,” or “We can only make a recommendation to the City Council.”
Residents tried to strengthen him, urging him, for example, to take a stand against the proposed $64 million boondoggle in Asser Levy Park, or deal with critical zoning issues in Brighton Beach. But his failing health rendered him incapable of doing so.
At Mr. Board’s internment, Mayor Bloomberg eagerly shoveled the first pile of dirt into the grave. Reporters overheard him saying to an aide, “I never got along with him.”
In lieu of flowers, community residents are asked to donate time to local advocacy groups.
