Managing a staff of 80, meeting with constituent groups, and, most of all, making sure that everyone in Brooklyn and New York City knows what Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz is doing with and for his borough—that is what Carlo Scissura does as Markowitz's chief of staff.

“It's like four or five jobs,” he said, his brown eyes opened wide.

Originally hired as general counsel in January, Scissura was named Markowitz's chief of staff in April.

One of the highlights so far has been a memorable trip to PS 205 in New Utrecht, where he was named principal for the day.

“I was great,” he said. “I gave them no homework for the weekend.”

A framed poem expressing the value of teachers, which he thinks everyone should remember, sits on his desk.

“The world may be different because I was important in the life of a CHILD,” it reads.

His time at PS 205 was not Scissura’s first exposure to city schools. He was elected to his district's school board in 1999, and in 2004, Markowitz appointed him to the district's Community Education Council. Through this and his service on Community Board 11, he was involved with numerous school construction projects and worked with several developers and city agencies.

He also taught law for four years at Baruch College.

And in a way, he still feels like a principal at his current job, though instead of keeping students in line and happy, he has an 80-member staff. Coming onto the job with the goal of improving daily operations at Borough Hall, one of the first things he did was give everyone on staff a copy of a management book called  First, Break All the Rules.

“We have to break every rule that we know and go full speed ahead,” he recalled telling them.

An advisory board of staff members was created to report on ideas to further improve procedures. He shuffled personnel and implemented relaxing yoga breaks on Fridays.

He also re-arranged his office, positioning his desk diagonally in a far corner, facing the door.

“I like it that way,” he said. “It fits with my whole open-door policy.”

But though he has enjoyed the past two months on the job, he said an unfortunate consequence of his busy schedule is a drastic reduction in the time he has to spend in his kitchen.

“I make a great sauce, Penne Puttanesca,” he said, before launching into a slightly risque discussion of the derivation of the dish's name.

He also laid claim to a great pesto, with a secret recipe he refused to reveal.

And there are the difficulties on the job as well, mostly from dealing with the controversial development projects and proposals—including the Atlantic Yards—which Markowitz supports.

Scissura thinks Atlantic Yards will benefit the surrounding community and the borough through the use of its stadium for local graduation ceremonies and performances of local bands.

“In 10 years, people are going to say, ‘Thank God that there were people out there that could get this done,’” Scissura predicted.

The future of the Brooklyn Academy of Music Cultural District in Ft. Greene, which he said rivals Manhattan's Lincoln Center, is another project which he said would help make Brooklyn the future of the city.

And the Brooklyn borough president may be the future of city politics, he said. Markowitz has been weighing a run for mayor, but made no official announcement. According to Scissura, though, a possible campaign is on the radar screen.
“What's good for Brooklyn translates into what's good for New York City,” he said.

So when asked where he might go after term limits end Markowitz's time in Borough Hall at the end of next year, Scissura is not sure.
One possibility, though, has crossed his mind.

“Maybe City Hall,” he said.