Ed Koch
Ed Koch served as mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989, a tenure he made visible in part by riding the New York City Subway and standing at street corners greeting passersby with the slogan "How'm I doin'?"
Koch was born in The Bronx on December 12, 1924. He attended Malcolm X Shabazz High School before going on to the City College of New York and then the New York University School of Law. He received the World War II Victory Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and a service star for his military service. He worked as a lawyer and as a politician, serving in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 before becoming mayor of New York City.
Beyond his time in elected office, Koch worked across several fields. He was a jurist and a judge, and he also worked as a writer and a film critic. These roles, alongside his earlier careers as a lawyer and politician, made up a professional life that extended well past his years at City Hall.
Koch died on February 1, 2013, in Greenwich Village. A United States citizen throughout his life, he had built his career across law, politics, and writing, earning military decorations that included the Combat Infantryman Badge before he ever set foot in the House of Representatives or asked a New York crowd how he was doing.
Quotes by Ed Koch
Ed Koch's insights on:
The mere process of growing old together will make the slightest acquaintance seem a bosom friend.
I am not for public executions, though I support the death penalty. One, it's an appropriate punishment in horrific cases, and two, it's a deterrent. There are studies that say that for every person executed, eight innocent people who might otherwise have been murdered were not.
