In a theatrical twist he would have loved, a documentary about Ed Koch’s life opened in Manhattan the day he died.
Fans and former co-workers of the spotlight-loving, three-term mayor hit the first screenings of “Koch” at Angelika Theater and Lincoln Center to pay tribute, and praised director Neil Barsky’s warts-and-all portrayal.
“I saw my life flash in front of me,” said Rita Schwartz, a city employee who worked on Koch’s mayoral and gubernatorial campaigns. “It told his story, and the city’s story. It was right on target.
“He was a pain, he was rough, and he was kind. He was a New Yorker through and through.”
The movie, which features several in-depth interviews with Koch, chronicles the racial tensions and financial problems he weathered as he reigned from 1978 to 1989.
Schwartz, of Brooklyn Heights, caught the early show at Angelika with pal Lisa Diaz. Both women last saw Koch, an avowed movie buff and erstwhile film critic, at his December birthday party, and Diaz said she “had a premonition” Koch would die yesterday.
“It’s not unexpected,” Schwartz said. “But my heart sank. He held us all together; for 20 some-odd years we’ve been celebrating his birthday and all of our friendships and growth. He took great pride in all of us as public servants.”
“I feel a void. He was the glue,” said Diaz.
Moviegoer Tom Cunningham had already planned to see the documentary yesterday before he heard of Koch’s death.
“Talk about timing, I’m so happy I came this morning — I sort of feel like I went to his wake,” said Cunningham, 69.
“It captured all of him,” he said of the film. “It was a beautiful interplay between his talking and snippets of history. The documentary was flawless. Ed Koch is Ed Koch 100 percent.”
“It was very accurate,” said moviegoer Martin Grossman. “It showed his faults and strengths. He was a very colorful person, there will never be another Koch.”
In the movie, Koch visits his own grave — a plot he picked out at Trinity Church Cemetery years ago.
“I am not afraid of death,” he muses, noting that people are either rewarded in death, or not.
Then, cracking a mischievous smile, Koch quipped, “I expect to be rewarded.”