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Ed Koch

Mayor Koch saved the city of New York from bankruptcy and restored the pride of New Yorkers. During his three terms as mayor from 1978-1989, he restored fiscal stability to the city and was responsible for placing the city on a GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Practices) balanced budget. He created a housing program that, over a ten-year period, provided more than 150,000 units of affordable housing financed by city funds in the amount of $5.1 billion. He created for the first time in New York City a merit judicial selection system and selected some of the most outstanding public servants to serve in his administration. Prior to being mayor, Mr. Koch served for nine years as a congressman and two years as a member of the New York City Council. He attended 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 served in the European Theater of Operations, received two battle stars, the Combat Infantry badge, and he was honorably discharged with the rank of Sergeant in 1946. He received his LL.B. degree from the New York University School of Law in 1948 and began to practice law immediately thereafter. He is currently a partner in the law firm of Bryan Cave LLP. He hosts a Friday evening call-in radio program on Bloomberg AM 1130 (WBBR) and is also a commentator on that station. Mr. Koch appears weekly on NY1 television with former Senator Alfonse D’Amato. He is the author of ten autobiographical books. His most recent book is "The Koch Papers: My Fight Against Anti-Semitism."