Mayor Bloomberg Reflects On Ed Koch


Mayor Bloomberg calls Edward I. Koch, the 105th mayor of New York City, who died today, “irascible” and “genuine.” Mayor Bloomberg says Edward Koch was a “quintessential” mayor who earned his honors among the city’s greatest leaders.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at the Grand Central Terminal centennial celebration Friday morning:

“He was a civic savior for our city in desperate times, and he will be remembered as one of the greatest — and certainly one of the most important — mayors in our city’s long history. When we were down, Ed Koch picked us up. When we were worried, he gave us confidence. When someone needed a good kick in the rear, he gave it to them — and, if you remember, he enjoyed it.”

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Edward Koch once described himself by saying:

“I’m the sort of person who will never get ulcers. Why? Because I say exactly what I think. I am the sort of person who might give other people ulcers.”

Mayor Bloomberg joked from behind a podium in Grand Central’s majestic main concourse that the former mayor perfectly timed his death with the opening of a movie about his life and career:

“Leave it to Ed to exit the stage just in time to maximize interest and ticket sales in the new documentary about him named, what else, ‘Koch’.”

Edward Koch, the outspoken three – term New York mayor who brought the Big Apple from the brink of bankruptcy in the late 1970s and cheered crime-weary residents, died at 88.

According to Bloomberg.com, Edward Koch died today at New York – Presbyterian Columbia Hospital 2 am of heart failure. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Edward Koch had been hospitalized in September for anemia and three months later for pneumonia and flu. Edward Koch was relocated to intensive care yesterday afternoon. The funeral will be held in Manhattan on February 4 at Temple Emanu-El.

RIP, Edward Koch, and Mayor Bloomberg seconds the motion.

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