New York – Famous Lines From Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch

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    FILE - Ed Koch, former New York mayor and head of the U.S. delegation gives a speech during an international two-day conference on fighting anti-Semitism by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the German capital Berlin April 28, 2004. REUTERS/POOLNew York – A look at some of the famous lines over the years from former New York City Mayor Ed Koch:

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    —”How’m I doing?”

    —”I’m not the type to get ulcers. I give them.”

    —”You punch me, I punch back. I do not believe it’s good for one’s self-respect to be a punching bag.”

    —”If you agree with me on 9 out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, see a psychiatrist.”

    —”Have you ever lived in the suburbs? It’s sterile. It’s nothing. It’s wasting your life.”

    On the prospect of living in Albany, during his failed 1982 race for governor.

    —”Whether I am straight or gay or bisexual is nobody’s business but mine.”

    —”If they want a parade, let them parade in front of the oil drums in Moonachie.”

    After the New York Giants, who play in New Jersey, asked for a permit to hold a parade in the city after winning the Super Bowl in 1987.

    —”I was defeated because of longevity, not because Yusuf Hawkins was murdered six weeks before the election, although that was a factor. People get tired of you. So they decided to throw me out.”

    After losing the 1989 mayoral primary.

    —”It’s not soaring, beautiful, handsome, like the George Washington or the Verrazano. It’s rugged, it’s hard working — and that’s me.”

    On the 59th Street Bridge being renamed for him in 2011.

    —”I don’t want to leave Manhattan, even when I’m gone. This is my home. The thought of having to go to New Jersey was so distressing to me.”

    After purchasing a burial plot in Manhattan’s Trinity Cemetery in 2008.

    —”I know that nothing happens here on this Earth that wasn’t ordained by God. I know that. You know that. And therefore, while I know that it was the people who elected me, it was God who selected me.” In 1985, during an Easter Sunday worship in Harlem explaining why he thought he was selected by God to be mayor. The next day, Koch stressed that it did not necessarily mean he was endorsed by God.

    “Not that I was given approval by the Deity, but I am delighted I was given the opportunity by the Deity.”


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    17 Comments
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    11 years ago

    Great Mayor yes. Jewish Mayor No. Bought a plot to be buried in a christian cemetary which the most non observant don’t do. Nice guy abisel meshuga.

    EmesMeieretz
    EmesMeieretz
    11 years ago

    One more line i remember from him, ” I AM NOT A JEWISH MAYOR, I AM THE MAYOR OF NEW YORK THAT HAPPENS TO BE JEWISH”

    monalisa
    monalisa
    11 years ago

    I have another famous line….”errrr, ummmm, eh, errr, errr…….” He could never spit out a sentence without humming & hawing. It drove me crazy! But hey, he was a real Noo Yawker! And to #1 , I have to agree. If he was so hung up on being buried in NY there are cemeteries in Brooklyn, Queens & the Bronx (where he was from) that are Jewish.

    11 years ago

    Koch caused the whole gay problem today as he led the support of gay rights laws. Chillul Hashem that’s koch. He was a mechalel shabbos and oichel treifes and a fighter for liberal anti Torah causes. Shem reshaim yirkav