“I said, to be a New Yorker you have to live here for six months, and if at the end of the six months you find you walk faster, talk faster, think faster, you’re a New Yorker.” ~ Ed Koch (Thanks to my pal, Sara Alvarez, for posting quote.)
Yesterday, New York City lost one of her greatest residents and best advocates. Former Mayor Ed Koch left us at the age of 88. It’s hard to think of New York City without him. He is as iconic as the Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, and the Statue of Liberty.
His love of New York was infectious and he helped us all keep our egos in check by constantly asking his trademark question, “How’m I doin’?” New Yorkers by nature like to one up each other with how long they’ve lived here, how well they know the city, and how much of a New Yorker they are. Ed believed that this city belonged to anyone who had the courage to move here. In his eyes, New York was for everyone.
And so it’s with a couple of tears in our eyes and heavy hearts that we bid you a fond farewell as you take up the next leg of your journey. We can only hope that you love the place you now call home as much as you loved this city. Thanks for believing that together we could make this a better place, even when the future seemed so bleak.
To read a beautiful retrospective of his life in the New York Times, please click here. Ironically, a documentary about him appropriately named Koch opened nationwide on the same day that he passed away. Ed always knew how to go out with a splash.
Christa Avampato 