SPOTLIGHT ON: Ed Koch

By Christine Bruzzese

      New York City has had its share of extravagant personalities, and the late former Mayor Edward I. Koch is certainly among the most colorful and memorable. But beneath the glib exterior Koch was a brilliant politician whose accomplishments during his three-term, twelve year mayoralty (1978-1989), brought New York back from the brink. His profound love for the city and tireless cheerleading was exactly what the City needed – having just narrowly averted bankruptcy and still suffering from decades of disinvestment and neglect. His initiatives and reforms in modernizing municipal government and everything that touched the lives of New Yorkers set the stage for the City's remarkable renaissance in the quarter-century since he left office. He passed away on February 1, 2013.

      "How' m I Doin'?" an exhibition highlighting the mayoralty of Mayor Koch will open in the new Department of Records Visitor Center on June 20, 2013, and will be on display until July 17, 2013.

    Resources on Mayor Koch that can be found in the City Hall Library collection include:

    Citizen Koch by Edward I. Koch and Daniel Paisner is the former Mayor's autobiography, published in 1992. Koch chronicles his childhood, World War II exploits, legal career and his years in the political arena. He writes anecdotes about his mayoral years, stories of political struggles and triumphs, and his views on contemporary issues (as of the early 1990's).

    I'm Not Done Yet! was also written by Koch and Paisner. Published in 2000, this book discusses Koch's life after his mayoralty. Besides recounting personal and career history, Koch reflects on aging, keeping active and other issues.

    City for Sale: Ed Koch and the Betrayal of New York by Jack Newfield and Wayne Barrett. Investigative reporters Newfield and Barrett write the dramatic story of the corruption scandal that rocked the city government at the beginning of Koch's third term in 1986.

    Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City by Jonathan Soffer. This biography takes Koch from his early days governing a city beset by crime, racial tensions, graffiti, poor economy and more, to how he persuaded businesses to stay in the City, re-built its decaying infrastructure, and brought financial stability.

    The Koch Papers: My Fight against Anti-Semitism by Edward I. Koch and Rafael Medoff is a collection of speeches, essays, articles and letters by Koch on the subject of anti-Semitism. Included are his writings on confronting anti-Semitism in New York City, dealing with anti-Semitism in the United States and abroad, and the issues of the Holocaust.

    Other resources on Ed Koch can be discovered in the biographical and vertical files. Researchers can also search the City Hall Library catalog for reports published during the Koch administration.

Find out more at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/home.html

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