KOCH, EDWARD IRVING

KOCH, EDWARD IRVING (1924– ), U.S. politician. Born in the Bronx, New York, Koch attended the City College of New York from 1941 to 1943. In his last year of college, he was drafted into the army, where he served with the 104th Infantry Division. He received two battle stars and was honorably discharged in 1946 with the rank of sergeant. He graduated from New York University School of Law in 1948 and began to practice law. Deeply committed to the service of his native city, he entered public life in 1963, when he replaced Carmine de Sapio, the long-time Tammany Hall district leader in Greenwich Village. He was reelected in the following two years. Koch was elected to the New York City Council in 1966 and was the first Democrat to represent his district in more than 30 years. Two years later he was elected to Congress, where he served for nine years. He led the fight for urban-orientation and was instrumental in having the mass transit operating subsidy bill passed in 1974. He has strongly supported measures aimed at furthering equal opportunity, human rights, health care, and the arts. In 1976 he was voted "the most effective Congressman from New York" by his congressional colleagues from New York City. In November 1977 he was elected the 105th mayor of New York, assuming office on January 1, 1978, and was overwhelmingly reelected in 1981. His rallying cry "How'm I doing?" was best answered by the fact that he held the position for three terms, until 1989. Among his many achievements as mayor, Koch succeeded in restoring financial stability to New York City and placed the Big Apple on a balanced budget. He ran for a fourth term but was defeated in the Democratic primary. Koch then became a partner in the law firm of Robinson, Silverman, Pearce, Aronsohn & Berman. He also wrote political columns; was a commentator for Bloomberg Television; hosted a radio talk show; and wrote movie, book, and restaurant reviews, as well as a weekly column for Newsday. Among Koch's books are How'm I Doing? The Wit and Wisdom of Ed Koch (with M. Shestack and R. Sayre, 1981), Mayor (1984), Politics (1985), His Eminence and Hizzoner (1989), All The Best: Letters from a Feisty Mayor (1990), Citizen Koch (1992), Ed Koch on Everything (1994), Giuliani: Nasty Man (1999), and I'm Not Done Yet: Remaining Relevant (with D. Paisner, 2000). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Mollenkopf, A Phoenix in the Ashes: The Rise and Fall of the Koch Coalition in New York City Politics (1992); J. Newfield and W. Barrett, City for Sale (1989); M. Goodwin, et al. I, Koch: A Decidedly Unauthorized Biography of the Mayor of New York City (1985). (Rohan Saxen and Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)