See: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/former_mayor_ed_koch_dead_at_age_75lqLcuapohQ9JC6ILAXrL
and:
Ed Koch was born Edward Irving Koch on December 12, 1924 (13
days older than my mom). He worked in regular jobs (like deli clerk) and in
1943 he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served with honor, in Europe, during
WWII as an infantryman. He saw combat, earned two battle stars, but made it
through the war wherein he had achieved the rank of sergeant. After that he
attended City College of New York and NY University of Law. He practiced as a
lawyer after that. He began a career in local NYC politics in 1963, then became
a Congressman, then eventually back to the city where he became the 105th mayor
of New York City on January 1, 1978. That was a year and about 10 months before
I went in to the Border Patrol to start my federal career.
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| Ed Kock, giving thumbs up, standing amid commuters on the walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge, urging them not to let the striking NYC Transit Union keep them from work, in 1980. |
In the time he was
mayor, while I was still living in NYC, it became obvious to me that this guy
was no ordinary democrat. He leaned right - sometimes far right - on some
issues while remaining staunchly liberal on others and he was feisty. After a 4
year absence from NYC on my part, I returned to the city to find it much the
same with the same mayor and he was as unpredictable and independent minded as
ever. As I recall, I voted for him at least once. Yes - he ran as a democrat
when I did that (he was the only democrat, as I can remember, for whom I ever
voted), the election before that he had run as a Republican and Democrat - go
figure - as best as I can tell he was more of a Libertarian than either a
Democrat or Republican.
During his 3 terms in office he was a staunch patriot, he
was a law and order kind of a guy but did not go overboard with it, he lifted
the failed economy of the city and made it soar due to his major budget
cutting, he supported Israel, he opposed the unions during a New York City
Transit strike, he supported the lesbian and gay and
bi community (there was nothing about being 'bi' in it back
then), yet after the outbreak of AIDS he closed the gay bath houses, he supported the Jewish community in the face of racial unrest between that community and the African American but told it as he saw it much to the dismay, back then, of the likes of Al Sharpton. Koch often asked "How am I doing?" but also often said he did not care about the replies. All the
while that he was mayor he was a feisty guy who had a huge set of
balls amount of chutzpah and he was honest always saying what he meant. As Sharpton eulogized him Koch: "was never a phony or a hypocrite. He would not patronize or deceive you. He said what he meant. He meant what he said. He fought for what he believed. May he rest in peace."
He was a lifelong bachelor and when
questioned about his sexual preference he simply replied that it was private.
My guess, and that of many others, is that he was gay but no one minded because
he was DA MAYOR before anything else and in that regard he did pretty well and
with heart felt love for NYC and his faith. It was obvious that this man would
stand up for his beliefs and would face down his opponents whenever and
wherever necessary usually with his wit and a smarting quip. You should have
heard him lambaste Jesse Jackson, in 1988, when Jackson was running for
president and Koch reminded NY'ers that Jackson was no friend of Israel. Yet,
he was also oft times quite unpredictable on where he would stand on the issues
except to say that he approached many, probably most, of them with common sense
and practicality as opposed to towing the party line.
Throughout his terms as mayor, and after, he repeatedly told it like he
saw it regardless of benefit or harm to his image. He ran, during one of his
terms as mayor, for the governor's seat of NY State but lost. He most likely
lost because he alienated voters outside of NYC when he said that living in the
suburbs was "...sterile..." and that he would not like living in a
small city like Albany.
After politics, he stayed active in the political community
although never again attaining political office. His politics remained the same
- he was a democrat but leaned right, even stood firmly fast on the right, on
some issues like support for Israel and was to the left on others as in his
support for the lesbian, bi and gay
communities (yes by that time "bi" was included).
He will be buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in Manhattan. It was the only cemetery with available space in Manhattan (commonly referred to as The City). He put it this way: "I don't want to leave Manhattan, even when I'm gone," Koch told The Associated Press. "This is my home...." (source). That he was proud of his faith, can be witnessed by part of the inscription placed on his tombstone, that he had inscribed, shortly after he bought the burial plot, with the last words of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl before he was slain by Islamic terrorists:
"My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish." (source)
Further indication of his love for his faith but also that Hizzonner loved the City of New York and its people, and was truly a patriot who loved the United States of America, can be evidenced in the remaining words inscribe on his tombstone:
He called it as he saw it and stood up for his beliefs even up to his last days on earth (he opposed Obama's stance on Israel) but exercised a practicality that was rare among politicians and stood up fiercely to his detractors with the chutzpah only a New Yorker could show but almost always did it with a sense of humor. He
loved his faith, New York City and its people and the USA and in his own words did so fiercely. For those attributes, you had to admire him more than almost any other politician of his day whether you sided with him or not and I have to admit I disagreed with his stances on a lot of the issues a lot of the time. Still though, losing him is like losing a good friend. He was that kind of a mayor, he was Hizzoner!
All the best,
Glenn B
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