Latest News

Former President Bill Clinton cut short a trip to Japan to return to New York to speak at Mr. Koch's funeral at Temple Emanu-El on the East Side of Manhattan.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who is scheduled to deliver the eulogy at the ceremony, praised his predecessor as a "charismatic cheerleader and champion" during his weekly radio address on Sunday.

"Back in the 1970s, the whole city was crumbling around us," Mr. Bloomberg said. "Then we elected Ed Koch. He was a civic savior for a city in desperate need of one, and he will be remembered as one of the greatest – and most important – mayors in our city's long history."

Hundreds of mourners began lining up in the bitter cold on the street outside the temple hours before the service began. Politicians from across the political spectrum — many of whom had clashed with Mr. Koch when he was mayor — sat side by side as they filled the sanctuary.

Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, arrived arm-in-arm with her father, Larry Quinn. She remembered Mr. Koch making several kind gestures to her over the years, including calling her out of the blue once to express support when she was the director of the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project and was feuding with then-Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. She said that Mr. Koch had taken her and her wife, Kim Catullo, to the Four Seasons for lunch last summer to celebrate their wedding.

She said that he frequently offered her advice, but that "at the end of every conversation he would say, 'Just do what you want, and if people don't like it, just bleep 'em.'"

Mr. Koch's coffin was draped in the New York state flag as it was carried into the temple.

Six uniformed officers stood alongside the wooden coffin at the front the sanctuary as thousands filled the seats.

The honor guard represented the city's police and fire departments as well the parks, sanitation and correction departments, and the sheriff's office.

Many members of current and former City Hall administrations arrived throughout the morning, including Jay Kriegel, who was John Lindsay's chief of staff; Bob Tierney, Mr. Koch's counsel and the current landmarks commissioner; Robert Steel, the deputy mayor for economic development; and Dennis Walcott, the schools chancellor.

Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, seated at the front of the synagague, said Mr. Koch would be remembered for both what he achieved in office and the boundless optimism he brought to the job.

"It's a sad day," Mr. Giuliani said. "Not too many people, if anyone, contributed more to New York City than Ed Koch. It's a life full of contributions and achievement. He was so optimistic. We should feel guilty feeling too sad. He wouldn't want us to."

New York's two senators, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand joined former Governor George Pataki and current governor Andrew Cuomo in the congregation.

Ms. Gillibrand recalled Mr. Koch as a great advisor on Middle East politics, where to go for Chinese food and what movies to see.

Mr. Schumer said that Mr. Koch had at one point resented him for telling him not to run for reelection in 1989, when he lost to David Dinkins, and endorsed Al D'Amato against him.

"I invited him to my swearing-in, and I said, 'let's let bygones be bygones,' and we've been friends ever since," Mr. Schumer said.

Tributes from both polictical allies and foes have continued since Mr. Koch died.

While he was alive, the Queensboro Bridge was named in his honor, and now Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York is pushing to have the 77th Street station on the No. 6 line renamed for Mr. Koch, despite the fact that subway stations are not traditionally named in honor of people.

At Monday's service, Mr. Koch was remembered not only for his love of the city but also as a fierce defender of Israel. The Israeli consul general, Ido Aharoni, is among the dignitaries scheduled to speak.

The limestone Romanesque synagogue where services are being held, at Fifth Avenue and 65th Street, is one of the nation's oldest and most prominent Jewish institutions.

With a sanctuary that stands 103 feet tall, 100 feet wide and 175 feet long and has seating for 2,500 people, it is one of the largest Jewish houses of worship in the world.

The congregation first formed in 1845 and today includes some of New York's most prominent citizens, including Mr. Bloomberg and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

Mr. Koch will be buried at Trinity Church Cemetery in northern Manhattan, where he purchased a grave before his death. He paid $20,000 for the plot, ensuring that he would never have to leave the city he loved.

He installed his tombstone, where the words engraved on the marker were spoken by the journalist Daniel Pearl just before he was killed by Islamic extremists in 2002: "My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish."

Mr. Koch also wrote his own epitaph.

"He was fiercely proud of his Jewish faith," the inscription reads. "He fiercely defended the City of New York, and he fiercely loved its people. Above all, he loved his country, the United States of America, in whose armed forces he served in World War II."

Mr. Koch was born in Crotona Park East in the Bronx on Dec. 12, 1924, the second of three children of Louis and Joyce Silpe Koch, Polish Jews who had immigrated to New York separately in the early 1900s.

He eventually rose to the pinnacle of power in New York City, when he was elected as the city's 105th mayor, serving from Jan. 1, 1978, to Dec. 31, 1989.