You just can't knock Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz down. In a story about the Department of Transportation nixing Markowitz's idea for a sign "Leaving Brooklyn: Oy Vey!", the Post includes on origin story stemming from the "Leaving Brooklyn...Fugheddaboutit" sign:
The "Fuhgeddaboudit" sign angered some motorists, who saw it as an anti-Italian stereotype.
Then one such driver asked the Jewish borough president how he would feel if there were a sign reading, "Leaving Brooklyn: Oy Vey!"
Markowitz said he told the man, "How would I feel? That's the best idea I ever heard!"
The DOT feels that Markowitz's quirky sign program is played out and some Jews agree. Yiddish expert Audrey Kupferberg says, "It just reaffirms that stereotype of Jews as people who fret about everything and say, 'Oy vey! Oy vey!' no matter what happens."
Markowitz and his wife incorporated "Fugheddaboutit" into their holiday card, which featured the blackout. Memorably, Markowitz waited at the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge, welcoming weary people home that sultry August day when the lights went out.
