Today, former NYC Mayor Ed Koch died at the age of 88 due to congestive heart failure.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have been born and raised in NYC. I’ve spent 97% of my life here, besides those three years I spent in Oklahoma. I’ve never been a political person, but I do believe in my right to vote and having a say in what’s going on in my borough, state and country. Since I was a baby in the ’80s, I don’t remember much about former Mayor Koch.

When it comes to Mayors Dinkins, Giuliani and Bloomberg – I’ve got memories for days. What I do know about Koch is that when he left office, no one in my family or any of the adults in my life hated him – which, for me, says a lot. When I look at NYC ’80s based movies (Beat Street and Juice) and shows (Taxi and most recently The Carrie Diaries) this city wasn’t a pleasant place to live.

But today it’s safer, cleaner, more diverse, well celebrated and just totally better than what it was 20 years ago and a lot of that had to do with the policies that Ed Koch set in place for those who followed.

Thank you sir for starting the blueprint to making my beloved city one of the greatest places on Earth.

R.I.P. Ed Koch.

–Eutopia, 92.3 NOW

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