"If you agree with me on 9 out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, see a psychiatrist."
-Mayor Edward I. Koch (1924-2013)
I am sad to report that former Mayor Edward I. Koch passed away yesterday at the age of 88 years old. For those of you who may not have known him, Edward Irving Koch was and will always be the quintessential New Yorker. He was born, lived, and died in New York City and every thing he said with his distinctive New York accent or did with that out-sized personality of his oozed with New York.
As Mayor of New York City during the dark decade of 1980's, he managed to bring the city back from the abyss of bankruptcy and set it back on the road to prosperity. Why? Because he knew what needed to be done and he did it. He cut where cuts needed to be made and he was literally out on the streets every single day talking to people - not to pundits, or advisers, or the press, but to the people in the streets. His most famous quote "How'm I doin'?" was not just a political catch phrase like "hope and change", but an honest question for which he wanted honest answers. Why? Because he loved this city and everyone in it with all of his heart and soul. And it showed in everything he did. A life long Democrat, he called himself a "liberal with sanity". But he just honestly wanted to do what was needed and what was right to make life better for each and every citizen. Like the quote above, he did not expect everyone to agree with him all the time and was suspicious of people who did.
Mayor Bloomberg on hearing of Koch's death said "when we were down, Ed Koch picked us up. When we were worried, he have us confident. When someone needed a good kick in the rear, he gave it to them - and, if you remember, he enjoyed it." Though Mayors Guiliani and Bloomberg are credited with saving the city, it was Mayor Koch who put the policies in place and "kicked the right rears". And he did it with one other quintessentially New York trait - a great sense of humor.
On a personal note, I moved to the city in the final days of his administration. All I can say is, if it was supposed to have been worse in the '70's, God bless him for what he did because it was a horror show in 1989. So, to Mayor Koch from a grateful citizen - Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Ya' did just great! There will never be another one like you. R.I.P.
P.S. Everyone just knows that the first thing that Mayor Koch will ask St. Peter when he gets to those pearly gates will be..."How'd I do?".
Other News:
I just wanted to add few more names to my list of disgraced New York state elected officials for 2012-2013:
State Senator Shirley Huntley (D): pleaded guilty to embezzlement of $90,000 in tax payer funds for personal shopping sprees.
State Assembly Vivian Cook (D): not yet charged; implicated in procuring funds to be funneled to Sen. Huntley and participating in personal shopping sprees.
State Assembly Jimmy Meng (D): pleaded guilty to soliciting bribes
US Representative Gregory Meeks: Currently under investigation for accepting $40,000 in unreported "loans" from Queens businessman Edul Ahmad. Ahmad has pleaded guilty and awaiting sentences in a $50 million mortgage fraud scheme.
Previous list:
State Senator Carl Kruger (D) - resigned his seat and pleaded guilty to charges of corruption and bribery. (2011)
State Senator Hiram Monserrate (D-NY) - of the 13th District, was expelled by the New York State Senate on February 9, 2010 in connection with a misdemeanor assault conviction against his girlfriend.
State Senator Efrain Gonzalez (D-NY) On May 25, 2010, Gonzalez was sentenced to 84 months (7 years) in prison, followed by two years supervised release, after pleading guilty to two conspiracy counts and two wire fraud counts in May 2009.
President of the New York City council Andrew Stein (D) - was convicted of tax evasion regarding a Ponzi scheme in November 2010.
Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Pedro Espada Jr. (D) - On May 14, 2012 a federal jury found Espada guilty of embezzling money from federally funded healthcare clinics, after 11 days of deliberation.
State Senator Nicholas Spano (R) - in 2012 Spano was indicted for Federal Income Tax evasion. Spano pleaded guilty to the single felony. He admitted that he under-reported his income — $42,419 in federal income taxes and $10,605 in state taxes — from 2000 to 2008. He is to be sentenced to 12 to 18 months in Federal Prison in June 2012.
-Mayor Edward I. Koch (1924-2013)
I am sad to report that former Mayor Edward I. Koch passed away yesterday at the age of 88 years old. For those of you who may not have known him, Edward Irving Koch was and will always be the quintessential New Yorker. He was born, lived, and died in New York City and every thing he said with his distinctive New York accent or did with that out-sized personality of his oozed with New York.
As Mayor of New York City during the dark decade of 1980's, he managed to bring the city back from the abyss of bankruptcy and set it back on the road to prosperity. Why? Because he knew what needed to be done and he did it. He cut where cuts needed to be made and he was literally out on the streets every single day talking to people - not to pundits, or advisers, or the press, but to the people in the streets. His most famous quote "How'm I doin'?" was not just a political catch phrase like "hope and change", but an honest question for which he wanted honest answers. Why? Because he loved this city and everyone in it with all of his heart and soul. And it showed in everything he did. A life long Democrat, he called himself a "liberal with sanity". But he just honestly wanted to do what was needed and what was right to make life better for each and every citizen. Like the quote above, he did not expect everyone to agree with him all the time and was suspicious of people who did.
Mayor Bloomberg on hearing of Koch's death said "when we were down, Ed Koch picked us up. When we were worried, he have us confident. When someone needed a good kick in the rear, he gave it to them - and, if you remember, he enjoyed it." Though Mayors Guiliani and Bloomberg are credited with saving the city, it was Mayor Koch who put the policies in place and "kicked the right rears". And he did it with one other quintessentially New York trait - a great sense of humor.
On a personal note, I moved to the city in the final days of his administration. All I can say is, if it was supposed to have been worse in the '70's, God bless him for what he did because it was a horror show in 1989. So, to Mayor Koch from a grateful citizen - Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Ya' did just great! There will never be another one like you. R.I.P.
P.S. Everyone just knows that the first thing that Mayor Koch will ask St. Peter when he gets to those pearly gates will be..."How'd I do?".
Other News:
I just wanted to add few more names to my list of disgraced New York state elected officials for 2012-2013:
State Senator Shirley Huntley (D): pleaded guilty to embezzlement of $90,000 in tax payer funds for personal shopping sprees.
State Assembly Vivian Cook (D): not yet charged; implicated in procuring funds to be funneled to Sen. Huntley and participating in personal shopping sprees.
State Assembly Jimmy Meng (D): pleaded guilty to soliciting bribes
US Representative Gregory Meeks: Currently under investigation for accepting $40,000 in unreported "loans" from Queens businessman Edul Ahmad. Ahmad has pleaded guilty and awaiting sentences in a $50 million mortgage fraud scheme.
Previous list:
State Senator Carl Kruger (D) - resigned his seat and pleaded guilty to charges of corruption and bribery. (2011)
State Senator Hiram Monserrate (D-NY) - of the 13th District, was expelled by the New York State Senate on February 9, 2010 in connection with a misdemeanor assault conviction against his girlfriend.
State Senator Efrain Gonzalez (D-NY) On May 25, 2010, Gonzalez was sentenced to 84 months (7 years) in prison, followed by two years supervised release, after pleading guilty to two conspiracy counts and two wire fraud counts in May 2009.
President of the New York City council Andrew Stein (D) - was convicted of tax evasion regarding a Ponzi scheme in November 2010.
Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Pedro Espada Jr. (D) - On May 14, 2012 a federal jury found Espada guilty of embezzling money from federally funded healthcare clinics, after 11 days of deliberation.
State Senator Nicholas Spano (R) - in 2012 Spano was indicted for Federal Income Tax evasion. Spano pleaded guilty to the single felony. He admitted that he under-reported his income — $42,419 in federal income taxes and $10,605 in state taxes — from 2000 to 2008. He is to be sentenced to 12 to 18 months in Federal Prison in June 2012.
13 comments:
Bev, First, I was sorry to hear about Koch's passing. I never quite knew what to make of him as he seemed to be all over the place politically, but I respected his frank opinions. RIP.
Secondly, it sounds like NY really needs a special prison for its legislators.
Andrew - That "special prison" is already Albany state house apparently. I actually think we should move the state capital to Ossining, NY. That's where Sing Sing prison is. It would save so much time and money.
Bev, I have to agree with you about Albany. I've been there many times -- used to go to school in nearby Troy, NY. Albany is a pit.
That said, Sing Sing would work too. :)
Ed Koch always struck me as entertaining if nothing else. I don't know what he was really like as a politician, but he was entertaining.
Koch seemed like a nice guy and is a disappearing type of politician.
Love looting the public treasury to go on shopping sprees. I admire their initiative in cutting out the lobbyist middle man and going straight to the well. That kind of efficiency is rarely seen in government.
K and DUQ, Agreed, Koch is definitely a disappearing type of politician -- one who often put reality over ideology and wasn't afraid to speak his mind. I can't think of anyone like that today.
P.S. LOL! "I admire their initiative in cutting out the lobbyist middle man and going straight to the well. That kind of efficiency is rarely seen in government."
Nice! :)
K, I second that "Nice!" . In some kind of sick, I think that's what our crooked politicians think too! See, we're saving the taxpayers from having to spend so much on investigations and chasing down outside criminals, by keeping us all contained within City Hall and State Capital Building. See, we CAN be fiscally restrained!
K , Duq, and Andrew -Q, Koch is definitely a disappearing type of politician.
It is interesting that you say that. These are my thought exactly. He was someone who rose above party politics. A good idea was good idea no matter what party proposed it. We could used someone ANYONE, like that now! Of course he also held a grudge. He hated anything Cuomo including our present Governor. It went back along way when Koch ran against Mario Cuomo for Mayor. He blamed Cuomo for starting rumors that he was gay with signs like "Vote for Cuomo, Not the Homo"
I don't know a whole lot about Koch, though I've heard of him of course. I do remember that when I was in a college prep English course, we read an article by him giving his reasons in support of the death penalty. Coming from a NYC mayor, this surprised me a lot.
From him to Nanny Bloomberg--I think you guys are going downhill. :-(
Oh--and despite the fact that it's more politically conservative than the Big Apple, I thought upstate New York (including Albany) was just a dump. NYC itself was actually my favorite part of the state. Funny how that works.
T-Rav......Having lived in Rochester for many years, I always considered from Syracuse north to be the true "upstate" NY. Always considered Albany to be an extension of the city.
Agree on parts of NYC being nice. I'm sure you've been to parts of NYC in the boroughs(sp?) like Queens that I wouldn't let my dog near.
Also, I think NYC politicians are the truest colloquial characters in the country. Name one other city/region of the country that you could immediately identify someone with! Boston maybe, but someone from NYC would have a hard time getting elected to national office. Just too forward and abrasive. Guiliani tried and didn't get far. And remember the line..."Someone named Mario will never get elected by people west of the Mississippi?"
NYC...a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Lived in Waldwick NJ and that was close enough. Had a daughter that lived in Hoboken NJ and Brooklyn a few years back. Fascinating environs, full of unusual characters!! :)
T-Rav - I would call "upstate NY" bucolic. Though I have never been to Buffalo which I hear IS pretty much a dump. But Tim Russert came from there and I really liked him. BTW - his book Big Russ and Me is a really great read and a true love letter to his father.
And Patriot - I would say that "Upstate NY" starts once you hit West Point. And Albany is most definitely party of NYC. I haven't done much traveling around the state which is very typically Manhattanite-ish of me, but I spent some time in Ithaca which is just stunningly beautiful.
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