Backtalk
The Ed Koch I Knew — a Remembrance
I
t’s a cold friday in december, and I am at the reception desk to see former New York Mayor Ed Koch at the New York
Presbyterian Hospital. “Ed Koch, please,” I inform
the young African-American fellow who was the receptionist. “You’re here to see Mayor
Koch!” he says excitedly. I am curious as to his reaction, coming from a young man no older than 25, and probably not even born before 1989, when Koch served his last year as mayor. So, as he’s scanning the
computer for Hizzoner’s room, I say, “You know of Mayor Koch.”
“No, I don’t know him. But it’s a name I have heard
all my life, like he’s part of me,” he says. I fi nd the story amusing, so upon entering Koch’s private hospital suite, I shared the anecdote with Koch. “Ed, most of these kids don’t know who the vice
president is, but they know who you are after all these years out of offi ce,” I say, adding as he was smirking, “You ARE still relevant after all these years!” He loved it, because after he left the mayoralty he frequently said his goal in life was to “remain relevant.”
Always Relevant In fact, he was remaining relevant that Friday night.
Though recovering from the fl u with medical monitoring devices strapped to his body as he lay in bed, Koch had papers strewn across himself, and on a nearby table. He was working on his next column (his column
appeared on Newsmax) on the Middle East and the Obama administration’s policy toward Israel. Koch had not been pleased that Obama had reverted to form and was again taking a more hostile stance on Israel. The mayor had strongly endorsed Obama in his re-election, but said he was not surprised by Obama’s behavior either. “I only backed him because I thought he was going to win,” Koch said to me bluntly.
90 NEWSMAX | MARCH 2013 Koch apparently thought that if Obama was going to
beat Romney, then Obama would be president for four years, and it would be wise to at least have his ear. Koch was quite open to endorsing Republican candidates if he liked them on national security issues, as he did with George W. Bush in 2004. Koch had spoken favorably of Bush but had not
initially endorsed him. Early in 2004, I met Andy Card, Bush’s chief of staff , at a dinner and told him that Koch was open to endorsing the president but had never heard from the White House. Card rectifi ed that, and Koch went on to campaign
actively for Bush in Florida and Ohio. His endorsement carried quite a bit of weight — especially with New Yorkers, former New Yorkers, and Jewish voters. As it turned out, Bush beat John Kerry by a small
margin of 118,700 votes in Ohio, and I like to think Koch played a role with Ohio’s Jewish community. Koch had made a bet with himself that if Obama won re-election, he (Continued on page 89)
CHRISTOPHER RUDDY
PUBLISHER
HIZZONER INIMITABLE Ed Koch and Christopher Ruddy share a laugh at the
Newsmax.com Forum at the Yale Club in 1999. Below, the iconic Koch in his of ice, also in 1999, flashing his trademark smile.
KOCH IN OFFICE/MARC ASNIN/REDUX
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