General Tso dept.; big fat Brooklyn.(The Talk of the Town)

Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn's new borough president, threw the first of his annual parties celebrating the Chinese New Year in 1979, back when he was a freshman in the State Senate. A steadily growing guestlist has obliged Markowitz to change venues several times over the past twenty-four years, and to spread the proceedings over three nights, but the essential ingredients have remained the same: a mix of family, friends, cronies, and constituents, plus a few speeches, a little entertainment, and fourteen courses of Chinese food, liberally irrigated with plum wine and other mild spirits. Last week, on the second night of the party, which was held at the Ocean Palace seafood restaurant in Sunset Park, Markowitz dropped a bombshell to usher in the Year of the Horse. "Brooklyn is going on a diet in April," he told his four hundred and fifty guests. "So eat up!"

Markowitz, who is short and round, with assertive features and a full head of gray hair, dressed for the occasion in a black silk collarless jacket, which was decorated with red symbols that signify luck and longevity. As he darted from table to table -- waving, blowing kisses, and bestowing hugs along the way -- he explained his decision to put America's fourth-largest city on a weight-loss regime.

"I'm chubby, and most of Brooklyn is chubby," he said. "Obesity, or near-obesity, is symptomatic of a lack of self-esteem and not taking care of yourself. I mean, look around this room."

Markowitz plans to enlist the help of hospitals, schools, health clubs, and restaurants in support of his program, which he is calling "Lighten Up, Brooklyn." The goal: a borough-wide loss of two and a half million pounds, or one pound per resident. Markowitz himself will participate by dieting, taking aerobics classes on public-access television, and weighing himself in public.

Markowitz had no illusions that any of Brooklyn's weight would be shed at his party, and encouraged people to enjoy the bounty. "Pace yourself. I've done this twenty-four years -- whatever you need, you order more," he told one group. When he spotted a woman complaining to a waiter ...