Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch has died at 88:
Koch died at 2 a.m., spokesman George Arzt said. The funeral will be Monday at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan.
After leaving City Hall in January 1990, Koch battled assorted health problems and heart disease.
The larger-than-life Koch, who breezed through the streets of New York flashing his signature thumbs-up sign, won a national reputation with his feisty style. “How’m I doing?” was his trademark question to constituents, although the answer mattered little to Koch. The mayor always thought he was doing wonderfully.
Bald and bombastic, paunchy and pretentious, the city’s 105th mayor was quick with a friendly quip and equally fast with a cutting remark for his political enemies.
“You punch me, I punch back,” Koch once memorably observed. “I do not believe it’s good for one’s self-respect to be a punching bag.”
The mayor dismissed his critics as “wackos,” waged verbal war with developer Donald Trump (“piggy”) and mayoral successor Rudolph Giuliani (“nasty man”), lambasted the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and once reduced the head of the City Council to tears.
“I’m not the type to get ulcers,” he wrote in “Mayor,” his autobiography. “I give them.”
When President George W. Bush ran for re-election in 2004, Koch, a Democrat, crossed party lines to support him and spoke at the GOP convention.
Lord knows I disagreed with most of his political positions, but he always seemed a happy warrior and was more of an old line Liberal as opposed to the neo-Communists who run the Democratic Party. Koch’s tombstone bears the last words of slain journalist Daniel Pearl: “My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish.”
RIP Ed Koch.
RIP. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The Mayor was my friend a’ times.
Ave Atque Vale,old Yid.Tears in my eyes.
RIP. Mr. Kock, you were never a hypocrite, a rare virtue.
Mr. Who?
That’s Dr. Who.
Like fritz, I have typos, misspelled words etc. and, unlike fritz I don’t explain that for instance, “I have big fingers” – It’s a typo.
I also forget smiley face sometimes.
He wanted to give me an ice hickey the other day.
What happened to my name? Tipo or big figners? You’re a lady… typo.
Texicalarose, you,, have a beautiful name, as have I – FJIN
Some favorite Koch quotes, courtesy David Stein:
(during a strike by the NY transit union) “We’re not going to let these bastards bring us to our knees!”
(on being a proud Jew) “Jews have always thought that having someone elevated with his head above the grass was not good for the Jews. I never felt that way. I believe that you have to stand up.”
(on rumors that he’s gay) “My answer to questions on this subject is simply ‘fuck off.’ There have to be some private matters left.”
(and on everything else) “If you agree with me on nine out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, see a psychiatrist.”
I was sad to hear this today. I disagreed with him on a lot of things, but for the most part, he was a no nonsense liberal and disagreed with his own party on a lot of things. RIP Mr. Mayor.
I never quite knew what to make of Koch. I agreed with him sometime, but usually still. Still, he was an interesting figure. RIP