Brooklyn native Joe Gannascoli, who played Vito on HBO's "The Sopranos," will be urging Brooklynites to slim down.
Brooklynites are being asked to put down their forks once more.
Borough President Marty Markowitz is leading the “Lighten Up, Brooklyn” campaign for the seventh year in a row to get residents to lose weight and get healthy.
Markowitz will be joined by Joe Gannascoli, a Brooklyn native who played gay mobster Vito Spatafore on "The Sopranos," at a news conference at noon Tuesday to announce the borough-wide diet and a walk-a-thon to take place this Saturday and Sunday.
Markowitz first asked his constituents to slim down in 2002. In that eight-week campaign, Markowitz dropped 11 pounds and Brooklyn lost a whopping 82,655 big ones.
Since then, “Lighten Up” has eschewed weigh-ins and cut the length of the campaign to a few walking events, but the focus is still on obesity awareness, a spokesman from Markwotz’s office said.
Brooklyn’s prez is familiar with the health risks of excess weight. After a 2006 surgery to insert two stents into an artery, Markowitz had to further clean up his eating habits and lost more weight.
Gannascoli knows a thing or two about the great weight struggle as well. He was a contestant on VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club and has lost 100 pounds in recent years.
— Megan Stride