Reason.tv: Mayor Ed Koch on rent control, his sexuality, Andrew Cuomo, and how he helped save New York

In 1978, New York City was crumbling and the leading indicator
of America's seemingly irreversible decline. The South Bronx, once
a thriving middle-class neighborhood, had became a national symbol
of urban horror. From 1960 to 1980, New York's murder rate tripled.
Out-of-control spending had brought the city to the brink of
bankruptcy, leading to a state takeover of its finances. The
city's subway was plauged by crime, graffiti, and equipment
breakdowns.
On July 13th, 1977, the city reached its nadir when a 24-hour
blackout gave way to mass looting. Bushwick, a working-class
neighborhood in Brooklyn, was practically burned to the ground.
Then in 1978, Edward Irving Koch became New York's 105th
Mayor.
A veteran congressman from Manhattan, Koch?s chutzpah was
exactly what the city needed. A self-proclaimed "liberal with
sanity," Koch took on special interests, he put the city?s finances
back in order, and showed that it was not only possible to govern
but to have fun doing it.
Koch gained a national reputation by being the quintessential
New Yorker: A Bronx-born ethnic whose disparaging remarks about
life outside the city may well have sunk his 1981 bid for the
governor?s mansion in Albany. Long presumed to be gay, Koch kept
mum about his personal life while pushing for social tolerance. His
symbolic and practical role in the Big Apple's multi-decade
renaissance is as huge as his appetite for publicity.
Since losing his bid for a fourth term in 1989, Koch has been a
tireless dilettante. He?s written books and hosted his own radio
show. He was Judge Wapner?s first replacement on the People?s
Court. He started a nonprofit to clean up corruption
in the state capital. He turned his passion for film into an
avocation as a movie reviewer, first for a community paper called
the West Side Spirit, and
now on the YouTube Channel, The Mayor at the
Movies.
Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie sat down with Mayor Koch at his
office in Midtown in April 2011 for a wide ranging discussion about
rent control, the Tea Party, Donald Trump, his sexuality, whether
Gov. Andrew Cuomo coined the phrase "Vote for Cuomo not the Homo,"
his memories of World War II, and how he "gave New York City back
its morale" (as the late Sen. Daniel Moynihan put it).
Approximately 18 minutes.
Produced, shot, and edited by Jim Epstein, with help from Lucas
Newman. Additional camera by Anthony Fisher.
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