Mayor Koch — RIP to a Real New Yorker

Mayor Koch is dead.  He lived a good long life and all Real New Yorkers have their own favorite mental picture of him.

  • Here’s Koch at a subway station, asking, “How’m I doin’?”
  • Here’s Koch eating Chinese food, egg rolls and ribs
  • Here’s Koch on the Lex, holding court with rush hour riders
  • Here’s Koch on a camel, someplace in Egypt
  • Here’s Koch in the St. Paddy’s parade, in a white sweater, trying to blow into a bag pipe
Koch was mayor when New York was physical abusive to its inhabitants.  It was half-broke, the infrastructure crumbling.  It was dangerous.  The schools sucked.  The cops were corrupt.  Our city was an internationally renowned butt-of-jokes.

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And yet…why do I miss THAT New York and why am I so cool to today’s sleek, affluent, user-friendly version?
Why do I miss an elected official who, when asked about crime, spat back, “It stinks!”
Why do I miss a Mayor who was an unabashed ball breaker, who deserved a good slap in the face from time to time?  Why?
Because HE CAME FROM US.  He was not a billionaire.  He was not a slick guy.  He was an up from the streets, sharp-elbow, irascible rogue.
For all the vitriol, we loved Mayor Koch.  And he loved us right back.
You lived a good long life dude.  Now go raise hell in Heaven’s Hunan Kitchen.

 

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About Martin Kleinman

Martin Kleinman is a New York City-based writer and blogger. His new collection of short fiction, "When Paris Beckons" is now available. His second collection, "A Shoebox Full of Money", is available at your favorite online bookseller, as is his first -- "Home Front". Visit http://www.martykleinman.com for details on how to get your copies.

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