NEW YORK -- When Ed Koch was mayor, it seemed as if all of New York was being run by a deli counterman. Mr. Koch was funny, irritable, opinionated, sometimes rude and prone to yelling.
With a Bronx-born combination of chutzpah and humor, Mr. Koch steered New York back from the brink of financial ruin and infused the city with new energy and optimism in the 1970s and '80s while racing around town, startling ordinary New Yorkers by asking, "How'm I doing?" He was usually in too much of a hurry to wait for an answer.Mr. Koch died of congestive heart failure Friday at 88 after carefully arranging to be buried in Manhattan because, as he explained with what sounded like a love note wrapped in a zinger: "I don't want to leave Manhattan, even when I'm gone. This is my home. The thought of having to go to New Jersey was so distressing to me."Tributes poured in from political allies and adversaries alike.The Rev. Al Sharpton said that they disagreed on many things, but Mr. 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."Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
