Koch

I grew up a half hour from New York City on Long Island, where we very much paid attention to who was running things in Manhattan. Mayor Ed Koch was as polarizing a figure as I’ve ever seen in government. But there is no denying that he got the ball rolling on the resurrection of the city, including major housing improvements and the rebuilding of Times Square. This engaging documentary, using fairly recent interviews with the recently deceased Koch and archival footage, shows many of his triumphs and his controversies. He was a guy who said what was on his mind, and didn’t give a shit if it was popular or not. He made mistakes, but he also helped the city to become a place you would want to visit or even live in again. It was a shocker in my household when Koch got booted after his third term. We thought he would be mayor forever.