February 1, 2013 - 5:08 am
Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch has died. He was 88.
Koch was mayor for 12 years during the 1970s and 1980s, but continued being a sort of America’s Mayor for decades afterward. A lifelong Democrat, he was one of the few politicians capable of making sense to both sides.
He will be missed.
He did the best he could as mayor of a city in horrific economic and social crisis. And, yes, that meant telling lots of different people “you cannot have that”. He made lots of enemies, which probably means he did his job the right way. That is a rare bit of honesty to find in politics anywhere.
Godspeed Mr. Mayor. And thanks for being the right steward when we needed it!