Ed Koch, the irrepressible former mayor of New York, is widely credited with bringing NYC from its dark bankrupt days of the 1970s into a more prosperous era. However, his three terms in office were far from perfect. There was massive corruption, a failure to address the AIDS crisis, and a dramatic spike in the homeless population. The NY Times' obituary points out:
In a city where minorities had long held grievances against a largely white police force, Mr. Koch’s 1983 appointment of Benjamin Ward as New York’s first black police commissioner hardly appeased critics, and a series of ugly episodes came to symbolize mounting racial troubles in the Koch era.
In 1984, a white officer with a shotgun killed a black woman, Eleanor Bumpurs, 66, as she was being evicted from her apartment in the Bronx; he was acquitted of all charges. In 1986, a gang of white teenagers assaulted three black men in Howard Beach, Queens, chasing one, Michael Griffith, to his death on a highway. And in August 1989, a black youth, Yusuf K. Hawkins, 16, who went to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, to see a used car, was attacked by a group of white youths and shot dead.
It's believed the death of Hawkins helped undermine Koch's fourth term bid—he lost the 1989 primary to David Dinkins.
The Rev. Al Sharpton notably clashed and then collaborated with Koch over the years. Today he released a heartfelt statement:
“I am saddened to hear of the passing of former Mayor Ed Koch. Throughout his twelve-years of being Mayor I was one of his most vociferous critics. In fact, my first arrest was leading a sit-in on him about summer jobs for youth in 1978. We later united and worked together around the country in a national campaign for non-violent drug offenders to give them a second chance in life and we ended up getting to know and understand each other.
Although we argued about everything from my marching in Bensonhurst, to Florida and Trayvon Martin, and although we disagreed on politics from his views on President Obama to other matters, I have found that he was never a phony or a hypocrite. He would not patronize or deceive you. He said what he meant. He meant what he said. He fought for what he believed. May he rest in peace.”
In 1999, after unarmed immigrant Amadou Diallo was shot 41 times by the police, Koch said he wanted to get arrested during protests—organized by Sharpton— against the police, which Mayor Giuliani mocked.
Another notable black leader commented on Koch's death: Rev. Jesse Jackson said, "I extend my prayers to the family of Mayor Ed Koch. His leadership and legacy will never be forgotten in New York City, New York State or our Nation. He rescued New York at a time of need and demonstrated a deep love for community. His work and efforts will be remembered as he served and lived an extraordinary life. My God give him rest from his labor."
Jackson infamously referred to Jews as "Hymie" and New York as "Hymietown" in 1984, sparking the ire of Koch, New York's second Jewish mayor. In 1988, when Jackson was running for president, Koch said that Jews would be "crazy" to vote for him (Koch didn't like Jackson's call for a Palestinian state in Israel either). But Jackson and Koch found, as Koch later said, their "common ground."
