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Show he white, liberal ideologues scry. Ah, NO! No! No! No, we mustnt punish people! They commit crimes l. because ofpoiertyViats BALONEY! He thought a moment. I never un- derstood the idea that work is de-- . meaning. He shook his head in bafflement. I mean, blacks and whites who grew up in the 60s say, I cant take this job; its beneath me. I never understood that. Be a dishwasher ? Listen, I was a busboy, and I became mayor of New York. If you ask a kid today to be a busboy, hell say, Oh, that's a dead-en- d job! Am I right? I the recent leaders of some of mean, this country the academics, the elitists have sold us a bill of goods. Now, if you get a job, you have to come out a professor or a lawyer. Or the kids got to go to college. Why does everybody have to go to college? Why? Pause. Thats not racist what I just said. Koch has been accused by some New York black leaders of being racist. Hes sensitive about it. He in him accuses them of being Ed Koch began his political life in Greenwich Village in the 1950s. As a young lawyer, he became deeply involved in die reform movement in battling the Democratic Party. Koch was elected to the City Council, then he won former Mayor John Lindsays old Congressional seat in Manhattans traditionally Republican Silk Stocking District. Through most of the following years, until he ran for anti-Semiti- c. mayor in 1977, he held to a position. left-liber- al So it was astonishing to see him flMADE AUGUST 1,1982 11 later winning the mayoralty race as the centrist candidate (his words) who railed against welfare pimps, street crime, projects in middle-clas- s neighborhoods and lenient judges. He advocated the death penalty. Tough sentencing. Standing up against the powerful municipal labor unions in a union town. Then, in 1980, he stood grinning beside candidate Ronald Reagan on the steps of Grade Mansion, his official residence. The following year, Koch made history by becoming the citys first mayor to win reelection on both major party tickets. The great majority of New York voters had become as conservative as Ed Koch. They gave him a landslide. Over lunch at Grade Mansion, I asked the mayor about his passage low-inco- rightward. I was never radical left! he declared. wasnt ideological left. I never thought it was bad to be rich. I never wanted to be rich. But 1 dont think rich is evil. Its all right with me how wealthy you are as long as youre taxed fairly, so we can deliver essential services. I dont want to put unreasonable restraints on the top. But I want to create a bottom under which people cant fall. Ive never been a socialist or a communist. A New Deal liberal, thats how I was." We sat in the informal glass dining room overlooking the great lawn of I the mayors residence. We ate curried chicken and salad served by a black staff. Koch wore slacks, an open shirt and a cardigan sweater. I grew up poor, but Im not a bitter person, he said. Im an optimist by nature. I think thats clear. My personality is cheerful, and I think realistic. My parents were people who gave a lot of love and security to their children. We were all comfortable internally. I have a lot of inner security. When we moved to Newark because of the Depression, I was 9 or 10 and started to check coats and hats in Kruegers Auditorium on Belmont Avenue. Koch worked for dime tips. On Sunday mornings, he would wrap the coins in pink rolls for deposit in the bank. I became very good at it. He laughed. I never felt deprived. You can bring dessert! he shouted. Even here, I live rather modestly, he told me, I go to modest restaurants. I mean, I pay my own restaurant bills. I never let restaurants pick up my bills. 1 never let anybody pick up my bills. Therefore, I dont go to expensive places. There was something sad, even disconcerting, about listening to the mayor of the richest city in the world talking about how humble and pennywise were his tastes as he sat eating lunch in one of the largest houses in one of the most expensive quarters of Manhattan. The house he lives in. A week later, I visited Koch at his penthouse apartment in Greenwich Village. It was early evening. The mayor was tired from a day of hard campaigning upstate. Koch spends two or three nights a week in the apartment. It is high in an old apartment block with lovely views. But it is small one bedroom, a tiny kitchen and bath although the living room is ample and has a working fireplace. It is here that Koch meets for small dinners with his friends. He cooks the meals himself, something heis proud of. He is reputed to be a fine cook. He opened a bottle of wine. We sat together on the sofa, a tired relic that had seen better times. We talked for a while about Nancy Reagan, whom Koch likes very much. I told him about being at the White House with Nancy Reagan to interview her for PARADE. I was struck, I said, by how deeply she loved her husband. I asked the mayor if he had f ever been in love? Sure, he replied casually. Tell me about it. He looked annoyed. No. I never use my private life to enhance my public life. There are people who do or that. Not me. I dont go to jet-schichi parties. I dont go to posh restaurants. 1 asked him what that had to do with his having been in love? I dont use my private life for public purposes, so Im not going to do it et now. But didnt keeping his private life a secret only increase public curiosity about it? Yeah. That makes for rumors. I reminded the mayor that he was 57 years old, a bachelor who lives alone, and that led to speculation about his sexual tastes. Koch sat up tiredly, taking his feet 7 was never radical left. off the table. But that homosexual rumor applies to vast numbers of people in public life who are subject to whispering campaigns that they are homosexual, whether they are married or not. He spoke as if he had expected the question, his tone more one of weary patience than peeve. Theres nothing you can do about that. Why that prurient interest in the sex life of other people is stirred up is beyond me. But Im not going to pander to it. He poured us more wine. I dont think Im a lonely man, he said. NoT' I think my life is quite full as it relates to other people socially and professionally. Do I think if I had a wife and children to come home to each night, my life would be fuller? The answer is yes. I suspect that most people have moments when theyre down. I dont really mind being alone. But there are times when Id like to be with other people and, for various reasons, cant. p |
