Metro

King of the hill, top of the heap: Koch’s swan song is ‘New York, New York’

HIZZONER GUARD: Mayors Bloomberg, Giuliani and Dinkins pay final respects yesterday to Mayor Koch, as do Gov. Cuomo and President Bill Clinton.

HIZZONER GUARD: Mayors Bloomberg, Giuliani and Dinkins pay final respects yesterday to Mayor Koch, as do Gov. Cuomo and President Bill Clinton. (AP)

HIZZONER GUARD: Mayors Bloomberg, Giuliani and Dinkins pay final respects yesterday to Mayor Koch, as do Gov. Cuomo and President Bill Clinton (inset). (
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New York gave the ultimate send-off to beloved former Mayor Ed Koch yesterday — a standing ovation as his casket was carried out of a synagogue to the tune “New York, New York,” played as a dirge.

Luminaries and ordinary citizens from every borough filled Temple Emanu-El on the Upper East Side to hear funny and poignant tales about the tall, bald one-man public-opinion poll with the whiney voice who personified New York City.

Koch, mayor from 1978 to 1990, died Friday at 88.

Speakers recalled Koch’s in-your-face, trash-talking approach — and said his egocentric, bombastic style was just what the city needed at the time.

“No mayor, I think, has ever embodied the spirit of New York City like he did,” Mayor Bloomberg said. “Tough and loud, brash and irreverent, full of humor and chutzpah — he was our city’s quintessential mayor.”

There were tears, for sure, for New York City’s 105th mayor, who is largely credited with restoring the city’s financial stability and redeeming its world-class image after a decade of blight.

But for the most part, there were jokes and funny memories of a man who took himself less seriously than the people who watched him work.

Former Koch chief of staff Diane Coffey recalled how her stubborn boss finally broke the tension between them one day by apologizing to her after a bitter argument.

“So he opens the door and says to everyone in the outside office, breathlessly awaiting the outcome, ‘She was wrong. But I apologized,’ ” Coffey recalled. “So you have to love a guy like that.”

And the city did.

As Koch’s blond oak coffin was carried out of the Fifth Avenue synagogue by a Police Department honor guard to the incongruously mournful version of “New York, New York” on the organ, guests began to chuckle when they recognized the tune.

Then some began to sing along. And, when the casket passed by their row, they stood and broke out in loud applause, a collective “well done” to the man who always asked, “How’m I doin’?”

“He wasn’t afraid to take on anyone or anything when it came to New York City,” said former US Sen. Al D’Amato. “He’d take on his own party. He’d take on anyone. ”

Former President Bill Clinton added, “I don’t think I ever debated, discussed, agreed with, argued with anybody in this line of work who had a better feel for the impact of what people in government did on the real lives of people. He had a big brain. But he had a bigger heart.”

Among those attending were former Mayors David Dinkins and Rudy Giuliani, Gov. Cuomo and his former-governor father, Mario, former Govs. George Pataki and Eliot Spitzer, and US Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.

Even Koch’s adversaries were well-represented. Former Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa recalled his many battles with the former mayor.

“When I started the Guardian Angels, he couldn’t have been more adversarial, calling us ‘Hells Angels,’ vigilantes, so we were at each other’s throats for 13 years,” Sliwa said.

“Then in 1992, I was shot up by the Gottis and Gambinos, and when I woke up in intensive care, he was the first person I woke up to, and I thought I had died and gone to hell. Thereafter, we became friends.”

Ever the New Yorker, Koch was laid to rest at Trinity Church Cemetery in Washington Heights.

Excerpts from Mayor Bloomberg’s eulogy

From Mayor Bloomberg’s eulogy:

“ I’ve been doing my biblical research, and I think it’s only fitting that this week’s Torah portion is about Moses leading the Jews out of bondage in Egypt.

Ed, in his own way, was our Moses. Just with a little less hair. He led us out of darkness and he gave us hope. And while he may not have parted the Red Sea, he did break a subway strike by standing on a bridge and shouting words of encouragement.

And just as Moses died right before he reached the Promised Land, Ed died hours before the documentary about him opened in theaters. Leave it to Ed to find the best way to maximize publicity for a film about his life.”

Excerpts from President Bill Clinton’s eulogy

“I sent him a note on his 88th birthday, and he wrote me a nice letter back and he didn’t typically mention his own illness. Instead he asked about Hillary’s health instead.

He had a big brain, but he had a bigger heart.

So Ed, how’s she doing? She’s doing fine, but she misses you. We’re all doing fine, but we miss you. And we miss you so much because we all know we’re doing a lot better because you lived and served.”