AP, NEW YORK POST (U.S.)
NEW YORK- Former New York Mayor Ed Koch died early Friday at the age of 88. A spokesperson said that Koch, who ran NYC city hall through most of the 1980s, died of congestive heart failure.
In and out of the hospital for the last few months, Koch was moved into ICU yesterday as his condition worsened, reports the New York Post.
According to the AP, Koch embodied New York for the rest of the world. He won a national reputation with his feisty style and his trademark question, "How'm I doing?".
During his years as mayor, 1978-1989, his tight policies pulled the city out of severe financial trouble. After leaving elected office, he worked as a lawyer but remained active in the Big Apple’s political scene.
Ed Koch Bridge [Lasse Fuss]
His legacy lives on in the name of the bridge at 59th Street in Manhattan that connects the borough to Queens, that was renamed in his honor in 2011 as the Ed Koch Queensboro bridge.
The New York Times described Koch as a "colorful, candid New Yorker who led city through crisis."
Here are two other New Yorkers singing about the bridge now named in his honor:
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