Edward Koch

"Let me put it this way. If I were building a statue to Dr. Freud, and Iwere going to put it in New York, and the statue was going to be Freud in his office,it would be Woody Allen on the couch." -Edward Koch, former mayor of New York, in the NewYork Times .

In the late 1970s when Edward I. Koch won his first term as mayor of New York, the city was in shambles, its coffers and confidence sapped by financial crises and a paralyzing blackout. It needed a fighter and found one in Koch, a well-practiced pol with the determination - and bite - of a bulldog. He steered the city out of bankruptcy and restored its swagger, a one-man cheerleading squad who personified the witty and feisty New Yorker. The three-term mayor of New York and perennial civic combatant, who rallied and riled the city in and out of office with his tenacious style and irrepressible opinions, died Friday of congestive heart failure at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia Hospital, said his friend and spokesman George Arzt.

F. Gilman Spencer, editor of the New York Daily News, resigned Thursday just days after a highly publicized row with his publisher over who the paper would endorse in the city's mayoral primary. His resignation came after Spencer and Publisher James Hoge clashed over whether the paper should endorse Mayor Edward Koch for a fourth term or come out for his challenger, David Dinkins.

It seems fitting, if sad, that Ed Koch should pass away on the same day that "Koch, " a documentary about his life, opened in Manhattan. Though the three-term mayor of New York City, who died early Friday of congestive heart failure, is best known for overseeing the city during the dark days of the late 1970s and '80s, hizzoner was also a prolific and indefatigable media personality who appeared as himself in dozens of television shows, commercials, movies and news broadcasts over the years.

Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch died the same day a new documentary about his life and legacy opened in New York. "Koch," which will open in Southern California theaters beginning March 1, offers evidence that the combative mayor had mellowed little in his later years. Filmmaker Neil Barsky conducted extensive interviews with Koch in his Manhattan apartment in 2010 and early 2011, where the former mayor, who ruled New York from 1978 to 1989, spoke of his controversial time in office, offering no restrictions on subject matter or time.

New York officials Tuesday praised the $868-million deal that gave a Japanese company controlling interest in Rockefeller Center--but people in the street were angry to see another piece of Americana fall into foreign hands. The sale came just weeks before the lighting of the famous Christmas tree that overlooks the center's skating rink and the opening of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas show with its high-kicking Rockettes. "Money talks very loudly," said New Yorker Sumner Baye.

It seems fitting, if sad, that Ed Koch should pass away on the same day that "Koch, " a documentary about his life, opened in Manhattan. Though the three-term mayor of New York City, who died early Friday of congestive heart failure, is best known for overseeing the city during the dark days of the late 1970s and '80s, hizzoner was also a prolific and indefatigable media personality who appeared as himself in dozens of television shows, commercials, movies and news broadcasts over the years.

In the late 1970s when Edward I. Koch won his first term as mayor of New York, the city was in shambles, its coffers and confidence sapped by financial crises and a paralyzing blackout. It needed a fighter and found one in Koch, a well-practiced pol with the determination - and bite - of a bulldog. He steered the city out of bankruptcy and restored its swagger, a one-man cheerleading squad who personified the witty and feisty New Yorker. The three-term mayor of New York and perennial civic combatant, who rallied and riled the city in and out of office with his tenacious style and irrepressible opinions, died Friday of congestive heart failure at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia Hospital, said his friend and spokesman George Arzt.

With the wisdom of Solomon and the wit of an ex-mayor, freshly minted TV judge Edward I. Koch awarded $1,500 Thursday to the owner of Babette--the San Fernando Valley Chihuahua that became a snack for a runaway boa constrictor. The decision, reached during a taping of "The People's Court," was a partial victory for dog owner Flossie Torgerson, whose tiny pet was eaten Aug. 9 by Angus Johnson's 7 1/2-foot snake. Torgerson had sought $5,000 for Babette's value and for emotional distress.

Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch died the same day a new documentary about his life and legacy opened in New York. "Koch," which will open in Southern California theaters beginning March 1, offers evidence that the combative mayor had mellowed little in his later years. Filmmaker Neil Barsky conducted extensive interviews with Koch in his Manhattan apartment in 2010 and early 2011, where the former mayor, who ruled New York from 1978 to 1989, spoke of his controversial time in office, offering no restrictions on subject matter or time.

With the wisdom of Solomon and the wit of an ex-mayor, freshly minted TV judge Edward I. Koch awarded $1,500 Thursday to the owner of Babette--the San Fernando Valley Chihuahua that became a snack for a runaway boa constrictor. The decision, reached during a taping of "The People's Court," was a partial victory for dog owner Flossie Torgerson, whose tiny pet was eaten Aug. 9 by Angus Johnson's 7 1/2-foot snake. Torgerson had sought $5,000 for Babette's value and for emotional distress.

"Let me put it this way. If I were building a statue to Dr. Freud, and Iwere going to put it in New York, and the statue was going to be Freud in his office,it would be Woody Allen on the couch." -Edward Koch, former mayor of New York, in the NewYork Times .

New York officials Tuesday praised the $868-million deal that gave a Japanese company controlling interest in Rockefeller Center--but people in the street were angry to see another piece of Americana fall into foreign hands. The sale came just weeks before the lighting of the famous Christmas tree that overlooks the center's skating rink and the opening of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas show with its high-kicking Rockettes. "Money talks very loudly," said New Yorker Sumner Baye.

F. Gilman Spencer, editor of the New York Daily News, resigned Thursday just days after a highly publicized row with his publisher over who the paper would endorse in the city's mayoral primary. His resignation came after Spencer and Publisher James Hoge clashed over whether the paper should endorse Mayor Edward Koch for a fourth term or come out for his challenger, David Dinkins.

Edward I. Koch was sworn in to a third term Wednesday as mayor of the nation's largest city.

Mayor Edward I. Koch had five non-cancerous lesions removed from his face Friday morning.