Councilman Charles Barron has become the first candidate to officially announce that he wants to be the next Brooklyn borough presidency. With part-time steamboat Marty Markowitz set to sail off in 2009 because of term limits, the position is open, and Barron couldn't be more different from the tireless cheerleader of the cheesecake-and-bagel Brooklyn. For one thing, he's a former Black Panther who'll be, in his own words, "taking care of black folk. Unapologetically." For another, Barron comes with the distinction of already having seriously pissed off Bloomberg: Earlier in the year, the mayor called Barron's initiative to rename an avenue after activist Sonny Carson "the worst idea anybody in the City Council has had" — amid some stiff competition, to be sure. Barron's first endorsements come from Al Sharpton and retired police sergeant Noel Leader, a co-founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. Sadly, even Leader's hundred didn't quite care enough to attend the announcement en masse: The trio spoke yesterday, in the Daily News' estimation, to "about 75 supporters."

Barron Says He'd Back Black Brooklyn [NYDN]