Nation: The Apple's Big Polisher

He is the quintessential New Yorker: street smart, loud, witty, full of life, always in motion, combative. "Feisty," corrects Mayor Edward Koch. "Combative has a pejorative quality."

Koch's success story is classically New York. His parents were immigrant Jews from Poland. During the Depression, Koch's father lost his fur business in The Bronx and moved his wife and three children to Newark to share a two-bedroom apartment with four other relatives. Ed, 12, helped support the family with tips he earned by operating a hat-check concession in a catering hall.

After his family moved to Brooklyn, Koch worked his way through City College...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!