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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, DECEMBER 1 BTR 3-19, 2019 75
BRONX SCENE
Queensboro Bridge’s
new namesake, Ed
Koch, has Bronx roots
Now that it seems imminent that
the Queensboro Bridge will have the
name of our former mayor, Ed Koch,
attached to it, it’s time to consider his
Bronx connections.
When Ed Koch’s family moved
from the cold-water fl at at Jennings
Street in the Bronx to 1660 Crotona
Park East, it was a big step up the social
ladder. Their new apartment not
only had an elevator, but it also had a
view of the park.
His father, Louis, had been a pants
maker but then went into the furrier
business with his brother and was
working long hours but getting by
quite well. Then disaster struck as
the Depression arrived and luxury
items, such as furs, were no longer in
demand.
The family had to leave their
Bronx apartment when Ed was only
about seven years old and they moved
in with his brother at 90 Spruce Street
in Newark, sharing the rent.
The whole family found work running
the hat check stand at Krueger’s
Auditorium for a relative, existing
only on the tips.
They found this very demeaning
but it paid the rent and after about
a year Louis found other work and
they were able to move into their own
apartment.
There were several more moves
but the family was getting by and Ed
attended local schools graduating
with honors from South Side High
School in 1941 when only 16-yearsold.
He was rather bright and considered
somewhat of a nerd with his
only school involvement being the debating
team and writing a couple of
poems for the school magazine.
After Ed graduated from high
school, the family moved from Newark
to Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn
making him eligible to attend City
College tuition free.
Koch enrolled and attended, but
World War II was now raging and in
April of 1943 after he reached age 18,
he was drafted into the army.
He was shipped overseas on August
27, 1944 with the 415th Infantry
Regiment and saw action in Belgium
and Holland as a member of the Timberwolf
Division.
He received an honorable discharge
as a sergeant in 1946 and since
he was now a veteran, he was eligible
to enter NYU law school even though
he had not graduated from City College.
He completed law school in 1948
and was admitted to the bar the following
year.
He went into private practice as
a lawyer but it wasn’t long before he
found a certain amount of joy and excitement
in politics.
His fi rst political success was as
district leader in Greenwich Village
ousting Carmine DiSapio, the incumbent,
in 1963.
He then sought and won a seat on
the City Council. His election to Congress
in 1968 was important as it restored
a Democrat to that seat and he
managed to hold it for four terms.
Then in 1977 he took on the Liberal
Party candidate, Mario Cuomo,
for the mayoralty and won becoming
the 105th Mayor of New York City.
Koch inherited a city without
funds and a reputation that was also
running on empty. He restored sanity
to the city budget and pulled New
York City up by the boot straps restoring
its credibility.
He was also very instrumental
in rebuilding the Bronx through his
support of Charlotte Gardens. That
was a tough struggle and delayed for
several years due to the unforeseen
soil settlement, but it was, and still
is, a rousing success.
He proved that pride in ownership
can revitalize a community. There
was a time you wouldn’t want to live,
or even walk, anywhere near Charlotte
Street but today you can’t fi nd
a homeowner who wants to leave. I’d
call that a success.
Edward I. Koch was, after all, a
Bronx boy doing the right thing for
the borough of his birth.
Mayor Edward I. Koch stopped by the 46th Precinct after a shooting in 1988 and took time
to pose with police offi cer Nick DiBrino, author of “The Morris Park Racecourse and the
Morris Family.”
/PCRICHARD.COM
