One has three drivers, a speechwriter and a writer of proclamations - like the one presented to Ms. Full-Figured USA 2005. Another has a "secretary to the assistant to the president" who makes $85,000 - on top of two other special assistants, two plain old assistants and a secretary.
And two have fleets of 11 cars.
The city's five borough presidents get tens of millions in taxpayer dollars for chauffeurs, staffs of up to about 80 and discretionary spending - all so they can meet a whirlwind schedule that includes ribbon-cuttings, graduation speeches, community meetings and honorary breakfasts, a Post investigation found.
Called "glorified cheerleaders" by critics, the presidents' roles have become questionable to the point that the Charter Revision Commission is expected to explore changing - or even abolishing - the five offices when it convenes this year, sources told The Post.
Former City Councilman Kenneth Fisher, who once ran for borough president, said, "They either have to be made stronger or weaker."
"A lot of them have struggled to figure out what it is they're supposed to be doing."
Gene Russianoff, of the New York Public Interest Research Group, said: "They can be very effective. They are a connection between the people and the government."
But there are plenty pointing to their existence as largely ineffective.
"Right now, in terms of governmental responsibility, they don't do much," said political scientist Doug Muzzio.
In The Bronx, 79 people worked for Beep Adolfo Carrion Jr. as of May, including two special assistants raking in $95,000 and $140,000, two regular assistants making $61,000 and $55,000, a secretary pulling down $99,000, and a "secretary to the assistant to the president" with an $85,000 salary, budget documents show.
Spokeswoman Anne Fenton said the secretaries perform work of a "confidential nature."
In Brooklyn, where Borough President Marty Markowitz topped all his counterparts with 84 staffers as of May, the office includes a $50,000-a-year speech writer and a person paid $45,000 a year to write proclamations and speeches.
"People in Brooklyn love Marty's proclamations," said Chief of Staff Carlo Scissura, noting that the office has issued thousands of the honorary documents.
Queens Borough President Helen Marshall has a chauffeur making $63,000 a year. Stringer has two who get paid a total of $114,000. Markowitz has three. The chauffeurs are expected to do other jobs when not driving, according to the offices.
Marshall spokesman Dan Andrews said the chauffeur takes her to work-related events "so she can keep working on the road, avoid parking issues and so on."
In recent weeks, The Post observed Stringer's driver waiting for an hour and a half outside the Beep's Upper West Side home before he hopped into the Grand Marquis.
Later in the week, the same car was parked outside a Stringer fund-raiser for over an hour.
"That is inappropriate," said City Councilman Tony Avella. "The borough presidents should be using their own cars so they can see what real New Yorkers go through."
Stringer, who said he takes the subway when he can, insisted that he reimburses the city when he uses the car for political events.
"I wish I could do it all on public transportation," he said. "But when I have 10 events a day, it's just impossible. The car is just necessary to a point . . . And how do you park in Manhattan?"A recent day for Stringer included testimony at a land-use hearing, a TV interview, a meeting on the City Hall bike lane and a sit-down with the city's transportation commissioner.
Campaign finance records show Stringer reimbursed the city for $1,066 worth of "vehicle usage" and "campaign travel" expenses since 2007.
Stringer has three official cars, Marshall has four, Markowitz has seven and Carrion and Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro have 11 each. Molinaro has declined a driver and said he gave the $48,000 saved to keep a senior program open.
The presidents made $160,000 last year and controlled multi million-dollar budgets. City Council members, by comparison, make a base pay of $112,500 and have a base office budget of under $300,000.
This despite the fact that the borough presidents' role in government has been relegated to an almost entirely advisory position since 1989.
Until that year, borough presidents had seats on the powerful Board of Estimate and had a say in all land-use and budget issues. A City Charter revision abolished the board, and those powers are now divided between the City Council and the mayor.
In 2002, they lost their ability to appoint members of the Board of Education when the panel was disbanded and control of the school system transferred to the mayor.
The following year, the launch of the 311 hot line allowed New Yorkers to solve many problems without their borough president's help.
The number of constituent calls to the Bronx Borough President's Office dropped about 20 percent from 2002 to 2007.
The offices took another major hit this year when the pot of money they dole out to community groups was chopped by at least 87 percent in each borough.
The discretionary cash they are allotted has also been chipped away at, nose-diving by $1 million in Manhattan and Queens and more than $2 million in Brooklyn.
Marshall's staff has been reduced by half over the last seven years. Molinaro said his staff of 44 was a fraction of the 132 who worked for the office in 1990, when he was deputy borough president.
The new city budget will force 15 more people to be axed in The Bronx and nine positions to be cut in Brooklyn.
"It is making accomplishing our mandate in the charter very difficult," said Marshall's chief of staff, Alex Rosa.
That mandate includes appointing community-board members, issuing advisory opinions on land-use matters, making budget recommendations for the borough, and running a topographical office to produce official maps and dole out addresses for new buildings.
The presidents can also hold public hearings, and most convened between 15 to 25 in fiscal year 2008. Molinaro didn't have any, according to the office, because he leaves that job to the community boards.
"In their current role, I think you do away with the borough president's office tomorrow, and we would not miss them," said a longtime top aide to former Manhattan Beep C. Virginia Fields.
"They're just toothless tigers."
Additional reporting by Kathianne Boniello
