He had a few minor strokes, and a few other bouts recently.
He is a NYC character, that's for sure.
note- my liking Koch has lessened over the years as it moved into the later part of his congressional terms, he seemed to turn both to the right
and also played the race card in a few elections and did things that were, well there is no nice way to say it, Koch sure did act racist.
However,ironically, he was himself the victim of a major smear from the Cuomo campaign when the two ran against each other for Governor.
though denied, it was loud and most people in NYC and NYS heard about it, and I still blame Andrew (who ran the campaign for his dad Mario). Koch lost that race.
interesting long ago note on then congressman Koch from wiki-
that I knew about but had forgotten.
Koch was the Democratic US Representative from New York's 17th congressional district from January 3, 1969 until January 3, 1973, when after a redistricting he represented New York's 18th congressional district until December 31, 1977, when he resigned to become Mayor of New York City.
Koch has said he began his political career as "just a plain liberal", with positions including opposing the Vietnam War and marching in the South for civil rights.[9] In April 1973, Koch coined the term "Watergate Seven" when, in response to U.S. Senator Lowell P. Weicker, Jr.'s indicating that one of the men in Watergate scandal had been ordered in the spring of 1972 to keep certain Senators and Representatives under surveillance, posted a sign on the door of his United States Congress office saying, 'These premises were surveilled by the Watergate Seven. Watch yourself'.[10] At about this same time, Koch began his rightward shift towards being a "liberal with sanity" after reviewing the 1973 controversy around then-New York City Mayor John Lindsay's attempt to place a 3,000-person housing project in the middle of a middle-class community in Forest Hills, Queens. Congressman Koch met with residents of the community, most of whom were against the proposal. He was convinced by their arguments, and spoke out against the plan; this decision, he has said, shocked many of his political associates.[11]
Koch was active in advocating for a greater US role in advancing human rights, within the context of fighting the worldwide threat of communism. He had particular influence in the foreign aid budget, as he sat on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations. In 1976, Koch proposed that the US cut off foreign aid to the right-wing government of Uruguay. In mid-July 1976, the CIA learned that two high-level Uruguayan intelligence officers had discussed a possible assassination attempt on Koch by DINA, the Chilean secret police. The CIA did not regard these threats as credible until after the September, 1976 assassination of Orlando Letelier in Washington, DC by DINA agents coordinated by Operation Condor. After this assassination, then-Director of Central Intelligence George Bush informed Koch by phone of the threat. Koch subsequently asked both CIA and FBI for protection, but none was extended.[12]
and the Gay smear by Cuomo-
Koch is a lifelong bachelor, and his sexuality became an issue in the 1977 mayoral election with the appearance of placards and posters (disavowed by the Cuomo campaign) with the slogan "Vote for Cuomo, Not the Homo." Koch denounced the attack. During the campaign and after becoming mayor, Koch began attending public events with former Miss America, well-known television game show panelist and consumer advocate Bess Myerson.[35]
Koch has refused comment on his actual sexual experiences, writing:
What do I care? I'm 73 years old. I find it fascinating that people are interested in my sex life at age 73. It's rather complimentary! But as I say in my book, my answer to questions on this subject is simply "Fuck off." There have to be some private matters left.[36]
Randy Shilts, in And the Band Played On, his influential history of the early AIDS epidemic in America, discusses the possibility that Koch ignored the developing epidemic in New York City in 1982–1983 because he was afraid of lending credence to rumors of his homosexuality. Author and activist Larry Kramer describes the former mayor as a "closeted gay man" whose fear of being 'outed' kept him from aggressively addressing the AIDS epidemic in New York City in the early 1980s.[37] Kramer lampooned Koch's sexuality and perceived indifference to the plight of AIDS victims in The Normal Heart, in which the protagonist, an AIDS activist, laments that the only way to get the mayor's attention is to "hire a hunky hustler and send him up to Gracie Mansion with our plea tattooed on his cock." John Cameron Mitchell's movie Shortbus features a gay Koch-like older gentleman lamenting his poor choices while mayor of New York City. In the 2009 Kirby Dick documentary Outrage, investigative journalist Wayne Barrett of The Village Voice states that Koch is gay.[38]
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