He’s already got a bridge named after him, so why not his favorite subway station?
After Ed Koch is laid to rest today, a group of city officials will gather to push to name the 77th Street station on the 6 line after the beloved 105th mayor of New York.
The three-term mayor, who died Friday at age 88, had long campaigned at the station, first as congressman and later as mayor, with his immortal question, “How’m I doin’?”
“He called it his favorite stop on the subway,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who is leading the push for the name change.
It may be a tougher sell than the 2011 renaming of the city-run Queensboro Bridge after Koch.
“We don’t name stations after people,” said MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg. “We have never named a station after anybody.”
But an aide to Maloney, Jacob Tugendrajach, called the proposal “a done deal.”
Longtime Koch friends and supporters loved the idea.
“He loved the bridge because you could see the whole city from it. He particularly loved the traffic reports in the morning: ‘Traffic backed up on the Koch,’ ” said his spokesman, George Arzt.
“But the 77th Street was his lucky station where he campaigned both during campaigns and afterwards to thank the voters,” he added.
It’s not the only extra tribute to Koch.
The NYPD said its helicopter unit will fly an honor guard over Temple Emanu-El on East 65th Street off Fifth Avenue twice today — once when Hizzoner’s casket is being brought in and again when it is brought out for interment in Trinity Cemetery in Washington Heights.
Meanwhile, the NYPD prepared to handle the thousands of people expected to pay respects.
Cops will shut East 65th and 66th streets between Fifth and Madison avenues from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fifth Avenue will be closed right before and after the funeral.
The synagogue seats 2,500, and temple staff yesterday prepared an overflow room to accommodate more than 200 more people to view the service on monitors.
The 11 a.m. service is open to the public and will be broadcast on NY1 and online at nyc.gov.
In addition to eulogies from the likes of former President Bill Clinton, Mayor Bloomberg and Ido Aharoni, the consul general of Israel in New York, the service will include more personal reminiscences from Koch’s family.
His grandnephew Noah and grandniece Hannah, whom Koch called his “kids,” are expected to speak, as well as nephews Shmuel, Jonathan and Jared.
Eulogies will also be given by his law partner James Gill, his political aide and longtime friend John LoCicero and former Chief of Staff Diane Coffey.
Many political players from Koch’s time in office were eager to share their memories of him.
Brooklyn federal Judge Eric Vitaliano, a former Staten Island assemblyman, said it’s hard to overstate how popular Koch was.
“Koch was a magnet. The Republican candidates for office were flocking to him on Staten Island. They were following Koch like puppy dogs,” he said, chuckling. “Usually, they beat the stuffing out of a Democratic mayor.”
Tom McMahon, who served as the city’s Albany legislative director during Koch’s third term, said he left an enormous legacy.
He noted that many people who serve in the Bloomberg administration had initially worked for Koch.
“At all the reunion parties with his staffers, Koch would always say, ‘If done honorably and done well, public service is the noblest of professions.’ He set a standard for bringing talented people into the government and motivated them to do wonderful things for the city,” he said.