You did good, Ed!
That’s the answer a broad consensus of government watchdogs and politicos gave to former Mayor Ed Koch’s question: ‘How’m I doin’?”
Koch’s tumultuous 12 years in office included significant achievements, such as lifting the city from the verge of bankruptcy to fiscal health and launching an affordable-housing program that transformed neighborhoods.
A gritty Koch showed the municipal unions he meant business by rallying the public during the 11-day 1980 transit strike. While greeting commuters walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, he famously urged them not to give in “to the bastards.”
He also instituted merit selection of judges and backed campaign-finance reform and other measures to curb graft.
Koch approved tougher laws to combat discrimination against gays and curb smoking in public places.
But the Koch mayoralty also suffered a black eye from a massive corruption scandal in several city agencies — much of it prosecuted by one of his successors, then-Manhattan US Attorney Rudy Giuliani.
While never accused of wrongdoing, Koch said he was so depressed over the crimes uncovered that he contemplated suicide.
While popular for much of his mayoralty, Koch’s high-octane personality and pointed barbs often inflamed race relations, critics said.
In retrospect, he said it was a mistake to close Sydenham Hospital in Harlem over fierce community opposition.
But even his critics admit that Koch was the right mayor at the right time.
When he took office in 1978, residents were fleeing a declining city that was broke and whose finances were being supervised by a state control board.
Not only did Koch improve the city’s bottom line, but his public cheerleading and charisma bolstered Gotham’s flagging spirits, said Felix Rohatyn, a chief financial adviser to then-Gov. Hugh Carey.
He called Koch a “great historical mayor.”
“Koch gave the city life. He gave the city back a vision of the future that it lacked. New Yorkers were frightened about the city’s future,” Rohatyn said.
He said Koch was instrumental in getting loan guarantees from Washington to help the city stay afloat.
“Nobody was going to say, ‘Drop Dead,’ to Ed Koch,” Rohatyn said.
Stephen Berger, then head of the New York City Financial Control Board, said the budgetary practices and policies instituted under Koch have “allowed the city to balance its budget and remain financially stable for 37 years.”
“That’s the answer to how he’s doing,” Berger said.
Richard Ravitch, former chairman of the MTA, recalled Koch’s toughness during the 1980 transit strike. The two were at odds.
“Koch was properly standing up for the city taxpayers,” Ravitch said.
Dec. 12, 1924: Born in Crotona Park East section of The Bronx
1943-46: Drafted into US Army, fought in Battle of the Bulge, discharged at rank of sergeant
1948-49: Graduates NYU LawSchool and opens law practice
September 1963: Defeats Carmine DeSapio for Democratic district leader in Greenwich Village
September 1965: Defeats DeSapio in rematch, ending Carmine’s reign as Tammany Hall boss
1966: Elected to City Council from Greenwich Village
1968-77: Elected in upset to Congress from East Side “Silk Stocking” District. Served five terms
September 8, 1977: Finishes first in Democratic mayoral primary with 20 percent to Mario Cuomo’s 19 percent. Wins run-off against Cuomo twoweeks later
Jan. 1, 1978: Takes office as 105th mayor of New York
April 7, 1980: Cheers on people who walked to work over Brooklyn Bridge during transit strike
June 15, 1981: Appears on cover of Time magazine
November 1981: Wins re-election running on Democratic and Republican lines with 75 percent of vote
Sept. 23, 1982: Loses Democratic primary for governor to Cuomo
May 14, 1983: First mayor to host “Saturday Night Live”
1984: His memoir, “Mayor,” becomes a best-seller
November 1985: Wins re-election with 78 percent of vote
1986: Political ally Donald Manes attempts suicide as corruption scandals unfold
April 1, 1988: Says Jews “have to be crazy” to vote for Jesse Jackson in Democratic presidential primaries
Sept. 12, 1989: Loses Democratic mayoral primary to David Dinkins
1991: Gets a heart pacemaker
2004: Endorses President Bush for re-election
June 2009: Undergoes quadruple heart bypass
March 23, 2011: 59th Street bridge renamed “Ed Koch Queensborough Bridge”
Yesterday: Dies at age 88