In Brooklyn, Officials Court Democrats in Bid to Host 2016 Convention

Senator Charles E. Schumer, bragging about his home borough of Brooklyn, name-checked Big Daddy Kane and Lena Dunham.

Bruce Ratner, the developer of the Barclays Center, invoked Jay Z, an early investor in the arena with a somewhat more elevated public profile.

Then an entourage of tire-kickers from the Democratic National Committee were invited inside the building to munch on local fare from Calexico and Junior’s.

The city’s effort to bring the Democratic National Convention to the Barclays Center in 2016 — a bid that could help elevate Mayor Bill...