Koch remained a political force in Albany well into old age. He secured a promise in from then-aspiring Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a number of state legislators to protect the electoral redistricting process from partisanship -- and then vocally protested when Cuomo and others reneged on that pledge two years later.
At his 80th birthday bash, Bloomberg said Koch was "not only a great mayor and a great source of advice and support to other mayors, he happens to be one of the greatest leaders and politicians in the history of our city. He was in the hospital twice in , for anemia in September and then for a respiratory infection in December. He returned twice in January with fluid buildup in his lungs. He had undergone surgery in June to replace his aortic valve and had gallbladder surgery a month later.
He had a pacemaker inserted in and was hospitalized eight years later with a heart attack. In early , he was hospitalized with pneumonia. Koch was born in the Bronx on Dec. During the Great Depression, the family lived in Newark, N. The future mayor worked his way through school, checking hats, working behind a delicatessen counter and selling shoes.
He received a law degree from New York University in and began practicing law in Manhattan's Greenwich Village neighborhood, where his political career began as a member of the Village Independent Democrats, a group of liberal reformers. He defeated powerful Democratic leader Carmine DeSapio, whose roots reached back to the corrupt Tammany Hall political machine, in a race for district leader. Koch was elected to the City Council and then to Congress, serving from as representative for the "Silk Stocking" district that was then known for its millionaire Park Avenue constituency.
The liberal Koch was the first Democrat to represent the district in 31 years. But his politics edged to the center of the political spectrum during his years in Congress and pulled to the right on a number of issues after becoming mayor. His answer to the war on drugs? Send convicted drug dealers to concentration camps in the desert.
Decaying buildings? Paint phony windows, complete with cheery flowerpots, on brick facades. Overcrowded city jails? Stick inmates on floating prison barges. Koch defeated incumbent Beame and future Gov. Mario Cuomo in the Democratic primary to win his first term in City Hall. He was known as an unconventional Democrat—a strong supporter of the death penalty and an early gay-rights advocate.
His straight-talking style elicited both positive and negative answers to his catchphrase question, "How'm I doin'? Because I say exactly what I think.
But I am the sort of person who might give other people ulcers. In , he ran for an unprecedented fourth term, but lost the Democratic primary to David Dinkins, who went on to defeat Rudolph Giuliani and become the city's first African American mayor.
Soon after, Columbia's Oral History Research Office began the Koch Administration Project, which includes interviews with nearly four dozen of his colleagues, as well as a second, extensive interview with Koch himself. Currently, Ed Koch divides his time between his duties as a partner in a law firm and as a political commentator and food and movie critic for various print, radio, and TV outlets.
For two years starting in , he was the judge on the syndicated show "The People's Court. He also reviewed movies online at The Mayor at the Movies site mayorkoch. In his later years, Koch became politically motivated again. In , he grew upset after President Barack Obama called for Israel to return to its pre borders, with land swaps, as the basis of a Mideast peace deal.
In his anger, Koch crossed party lines to support Republican Bob Turner in his bid to represent perhaps the most Jewish district in the country, which covers parts of Queens and Brooklyn. Koch's endorsement was widely seen as a turning point in a race that few expected a Republican to win. I helped get him elected," Koch said at Turner's election night party. But in September , Koch said he was impressed with Obama's handling of the Palestinian bid for statehood at the U.
Edward Irving Koch was born in the Bronx on December 12, The family moved to New Jersey when he was 8. After he left the service as a sergeant in , he studied law at New York University. He began his public service life as a district leader in Greenwich Village in ; he also served on the New York City Council before running for Congress. Opinion: Koch a friend and force to the end. The New York Times said in a retrospective that Koch seemed an unlikely candidate for mayor in His campaign manager, David Garth, came up with a slogan that helped Koch beat fellow Democrat Mario Cuomo, who many commentators viewed as the more dynamic character, and Republican Roy Goodman.
Before he was defeated by Dinkins, he criticized the Rev.
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