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N.Y.ALL M AJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTEDFree door to door pick up service for dinner customersQuick Delivery CocktailsTake Out Service Sunday Brunchl E I E f E j E f E f E l M E M E M H H E J E f E M P M M I M M E I E P J E M IB o eru m H i l l C a feSince 1S6SFine Cuisine in one of the oldest andmost beautifully preserved restaurants in New York.Hours: Wednesday thru Sunday 5 to 11 p.m.148 H oyt Street C orner of Bergen StreetReservations 875-9391t reel ' \\WS o llp e r .An A m erican D in in g TraditionSince 1879.M inutes fro m M an h attan in th e h e a rt o f h isto ric B rooklyn.37 2 F ulton M all n e a r B o ro u g h H all For re se rv a tio n s call. 875-5181 M ajor c re d it c a rd s a c c e p te dAI%u2019Hcroi/icriovVIDEO ACTIONSUMMERSPECIAL!NOW THRUAUGUST 30thFREEV i d e oM E M B E R S H IPRENTALMonday - Friday 9:30 - 8prn Sat. 11 * 6pm Sun. 12 - 5pmSERVING PARK SLOPEOVER 27 YEARS117-7th AVENUEB'KLYN., NEW YORKle t. President ft Carroll Sts.(718)636-8100Help to FixUp YourHomeFind It EveryW eek in theNeighborhoodService C lassifiedsM a r y B u r n e t s a i d ,%u201cWe had a delicious evening!%u2019W h a t d o y o u s a y ?R E S T A U R A N TDinner Tucsday-SaturdayBrunch All Day Sunday448 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217 237-2271Treat Yourself to A ward- Winning Reporting and Writing______Every Week in The Pages of The PhoenixBoth Norman Rosten and Borough President Howard Golden are immortalized inR osten%u2019s new book where the author tells how he becam e Poet Laureate of Brooklyn.(Chuck Lewis Photo)Continuedpress. A literary event. Champagne, the works.%u201d%u201cNot even a part-time salary?%u201d%u201cIt would create problems, believe m e.%u201d %u201cWould I have the use of an office, a secretary?%u201d%u201cMaybe a work space, no secretary. It%u2019s a question of protocol.%u201d%u201cWhat about a parking space?%u201d %u201cAbsolutely not. I couldn%u2019t even get one for my daughter.%u201d%u201cI%u2019ll think about it.%u201d%u201cPersonally, I%u2019d be honored,%u201d he went on. %u201cWe need a little class in this administration. Murray says in England the poet laureate gets a case of port wine, plus some shillings for each year he serves. We%u2019ll certainly match that.%u201d(This is Brooklyn, remember, where these things happen).%u201cWhat are my duties without salary?%u201d %u201cWe%u2019re not sure. You can for example meet any VIPs who visit us. Or delegations. Foreign dignitaries. Attend official parties. You like girls, I hear. Also, you can write a poem for special occasions, like next year in the Brooklyn Bridge centennial. Let me hear from you.%u201d He pushed back his chair. %u201cNow I%u2019ve got to face the mob in the next room waiting to lynch me.%u201dI rose. %u201cHow can they lynch you? you%u2019re the sheriff.%u201d%u201cExcept I lost my badge.%u201d Then, deadpan: %u201cI want to thank you for coming, and I hope it%u2019s been inspirational.%u201d%u201cThe coffee was just right.%u201dAt the door, he said softly, %u201cWe%u2019ve got a new receptionist. Give her a smile, she%u2019s homesick for the Bronx.%u201dAnd so, for one dollar a year, plus the promise of a case of wine, I accepted the crown. (Actually, the ancient poet laureate was crowned with laurel leaves; if Murray knew about it, he never let on).The ceremony was impresive. In one of the large rotunda chambers of Borough Hall, several hundred people gathered, including politicos, assorted literati, local and out-of-town (Manhattan) reporters and many of my own friends who perhaps saw me edging a toe into political waters. The place was noisy, flash cameras glinting: there was general good cheer. The day%u2019s business was coming to a dose, and the laureate induction was about to move to center stage.In the wings, wearing a new shirt and tie, I hear the chairman quiet the audience for my entrance. Lord knows what they expected. I was a writer in the community with a reputation and physical bearing continually confused with the other Norman, the one with money and wives. They wondered what%u2019s up. And I, waiting to go on, think, Is this where I am destined to be at this time of my life? Is this me singing an aria, my head in the clouds and the brushes spinning a foot above the ground? Never mind why here or why Brooklyn, but why me? Seated next to me is Murray, the borough%u2019s unofficial historian and aide-decamp, who cheers me on. %u201cYou deserve it, for one thing.%u201d%u201cIt%u2019s a great idea, sure,%u201d I reply. %u201cWhat a shame nobody thought of it earlier. This town had some important poets. Whitman, for example, what a laureate he%u2019d have made.%u201d%u201cYes, granted, but that%u2019s the nineteenth century.%u201d%u201cAnd you missed on Hart Crane, not to mention Marianne Moore.%u201d%u201cIs she alive?%u201d%u201cShe was fifteen years ago. Where wereyou?%u201dMurray shakes his head in dismay.%u201cWe%u2019re talking about today, not fifteen years ago, or five. You%u2019re a native, you%u2019reIn the wings, w e arin g a n ewshirt a n d tie, / h e a r th ech airm a n q u ie t th e cro w d . Lordknow s w h a t th e y expected. Iwas a w rite r in th e c o m m u n ityw ith a re p u ta tio n a n d physicalbearin g c o n tin u a lly confusedw ith th e o th e r N o rm a n , th eo n e w ith th e m o n e y an d wives.just down the block, you%u2019re a natural.%u201d He peers at me. %u201cAre you backing out? What a hell of a time to back out!%u201d%u201cWould I back out after I get into a clean shirt and tie, and get a haircut? I%u2019m pleased to be the poet laureate, believe me, though the whole idea might be too rich for the masses.%u201dBorough Fresident Howard interrupts, leaning into the wings. %u201cLet%u2019s go fellas, while we got the crowd.%u201d With a grin, he says to me, %u201cDon%u2019t get seasick. We just cleaned the place.%u201d I follow him back onto the stage where he%u2019s greeted with unruly but honest applause. As instructed, I sit on one of the dignitary chairs, alongside Murray and the county chairman of the Party. Howie is a great MC, bom to the blarney, a politician in the best sense of that ill-famed word. He raises his hand for silence.%u201cI%u2019m glad so many of you stayed for the high point of the day, the official welcome to the borough%u2019s first poet laureate. Some of you may say, who needs one? And I say, we do. Someone reminded me that Walt Whitman would have been a better choice. But we wanted a live poet, and Norman was available. And he%u2019s got the credentials. I don%u2019t know a sonnet from a haiku, but I%u2019m sure he does. He%u2019s promised as one of his first commissions to write a poem for the Bridge centennial. I think, in time, the people of Brooklyn will get used to the idea that a poet is watching them. So watch your step all of you out there. I%u2019m proud to say that of the five, or is it six, boroughs of New York, we%u2019re the only one as of today with a real poet laureate, even iiiuugii ii umk us