Hundreds of people turned out to bid farewell to former Mayor Ed Koch on Monday.

New Yorkers from all walks of life will remember former New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch at his funeral service Monday morning.

"The mayor should be the one in charge. And I think I kind of learned that watching Ed Koch do that for so many years."

Liz Benjamin, host of Capital Tonight, blogger, talks about Ed Koch and New York Uprising, the campaign to get state legislators to pledge to reform redistricting.

In 1978, mayor Edward I. Koch invited Aaron Copland to Gracie Mansion after hearing that the composer had never been there. "But you were born in Brooklyn and are one of our great composers," Koch exclaimed. "I am shocked!"

Ed Koch, the three-time mayor of New York, died this morning at the age of 88. His 12-year mayoralty encompassed the fiscal austerity of the late 1970s and the racial conflicts and municipal corruption scandals of the 1980s, an era of almost continuous discord that found Mr. Koch at the vortex of a maelstrom day after day.

"His spirit will live on not only here at City Hall, and not only on the bridge the bears his name, but all across the five boroughs."

Neil Barsky, filmmaker, talks with Brian Lehrer about his new documentary on former NYC Mayor Ed Koch.

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch has been released from a Manhattan hospital.

Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch is in a hospital with a respiratory infection. It's his second hospitalization in three months.

Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch has been hospitalized for treatment of anemia.

Former Mayor Ed Koch with Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (Colby Hamilton / WNYC)

Former New York City mayor Ed Koch launched the latest salvo in the deal-or-no-deal redistricting battle. Koch, who pushed lawmakers during the last election to sign pledges supporting an independent redistricting process, is calling on them now to reject any sort of deal that would see a promise to pass a constitutional amendment in exchange for Governor Andrew Cuomo's signing the lines into law.

"A constitutional amendment is worthy of support on its own, of course, but not at the expense of improved lines now," Koch writes. "That is only good for the people who are counting on Albany staying exactly the way it is for another decade, but most New Yorkers think that's far too long. Voting for anything less than a 2012 independent commission would violate the pledge that so many lawmakers signed and campaigned on.

"We know there is a lot of pressure on you to support such a deal, or there will be. But if you still stand by your original pledge, as we hope you do, you should oppose it. And if it passes anyway and Governor Cuomo vetoes it, we hope you will sustain that veto."

Koch, of course, has been burned before by those who promised an independent process this time around. This might be more of a shot across the bow of those senators and members of the assembly who signed the NY Uprising pledge during their campaign and who Koch now labels "Enemies of Reform."

The full letter is after the jump.

Our daily look at the details that can change everything.

Colby Hamilton / WNYC

Ed Koch, left, with Dick Dadey at the LATFOR hearing

The state legislature’s redistricting task force is holding public meetings this week in New York City. Today they were in Manhattan hearing testimony from elected officials, good government groups, and any normal people who were inspired to take a day off of work to attend the hearing.

Oh, and Ed Koch.

The former mayor, fresh off his party-crossing coup in the 9th Congressional District, came to shakedown the bicameral committee. He was joined by Dick Dadey, the head of the nonpartisan good government group Citizens Union, and former parks commissioner and founder of NY Civic, Henry Stern.

The Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research—known awkwardly as LATFOR—has been holding meetings around the state to get the public’s feedback on how the decennial process of redrawing the state’s legislative districts should go. Koch and his good government cohorts have been pushing for an independent redistricting plan for over a year.

The New York State legislature was unable to put together a plan before the end of the last session, and so the traditional process—the politicians in the legislature whose districts are being redrawn controlling the process—has begun. This hasn’t made Ed Koch particularly happy.

Governor Hugh Carey's casket arriving at St. Patrick's Cathedral (Colby Hamilton/WNYC)

At a solemn but celebratory ceremony held at St. Patrick's Cathedral this morning, friends, family and former political colleagues of Hugh Carey--the man credited with saving New York City and State from financial doom in the 1970s--honored the former congressman and governor for his dedication to family and life-long service to his city, state and country.

"He saved New York City and State, and protected the honor of the whole country," former governor Mario Cuomo said shortly before the service. "He was the most effective governor in modern history."

Congressman Charles Rangel of Manhattan remembered his predecessor on the powerful Ways and Means Committee as a proud Brooklynite and American who guided Rangel during his early years in congress. "He and Tip O'Neal--anything good that I am today is because of both of them," Rangel said. "Everyone is going in and smiling. They say something like, this is a sad day and then immediately after that they say, he sure got a good run. And he did--he loved every day of life."

On the steps of the Catholic cathedral, Ed Cox, the head of the Republican Party in New York, called him a "great talent" who "just wanted to serve the state." Former mayor Ed Koch described Carey as a "an extraordinary man" and joined the chorus of admirers who lauded Carey for his singing. "He had a terrific sense of humor and was a marvelous Irish tenor," Koch said, who went on to praise Carey's ability to get political adversaries to sit together at the negotiating table.

During the service itself, clergymen and Carey's family illuminated both the personal and political--as well as the spiritual--aspects of the former governor. Edward Egan, the former Archbishop of New York, gave the homily, calling Carey a "great New Yorker and a truly great man." Carey was remembered as a deeply caring and loving husband and father to his 14 children, as well as a decorated veteran of World War II, whose work on behalf of the developmentally disabled has been overshadowed by his work saving the state.

"He was a prophet for our times, who spoke and lived the truth with wisdom and strength," Egan said.

Both Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Michael Bloomberg were on hand, as were many of Carey's children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He passed away this past Sunday at the age of 92.

Turning a Congressional special election into a referendum on President Obama’s policies towards Israel makes perfect sense – to former Mayor Edward Koch. Koch, after all, thought up the idea and is off and running in pursuit of his plan to treat the local contest for a Queens-Brooklyn seat like an exercise in foreign policy.

To pretty much everyone else, even friends and supporters who generally agree with him, Koch’s latest quest is quite a stretch in both logic and politics.

By Alec Hamilton

As expected, former New York City Mayor Ed Koch announced this morning that he is crossing party lines to throw his support behind Republican hopeful Bob Turner in September’s special election for the 9th Congressional District.

Koch explained he was supporting the Republican in order to “send a message to Washington that will affect the position of President Obama on Israel and the position of the Republican Party on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid."

Koch said it wasn’t personal and pointed out that he had supported Weprin on other occasions.

“There’s no question that David Weprin is a major supporter of the state of Israel and undoubtedly takes the same position I take with respect to entitlement, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. But if David Weprin is elected, do you think that sends a message? Do you think Obama’s going to say ‘Oh my god, they’ve repudiated me! They sent David Weprin!’ No.”

The endorsement was made at the Turner for Congress headquarters in Queens, with Councilmember Erich Ulrich--himself once considered a contender for the Republican nomination--and 23rd Assembly District Republican hopeful Jane Deacy in attendance.

The race will pit Turner against Democratic Party pick Assemblyman David Weprin in an election to fill the seat vacated by the resignation of former Congressman Anthony Weiner
Republican Margaret Wagner, from Broad Channel, Queens, and independent Kevin Hiltunen from Bergen Beach, Brooklyn, came out to show their support for Turner.  Warner said she was motivated to support Turner out of concern about the Health Care Reform Act and the closure of a local Rockaway Hospital.

“My plan and my husband’s plan for insurance, they just gave us one less choice. So we’re starting to feel the effects of Obamacare already, and that concerns me greatly for my kids and my grandkids.”

Turner, a former businessman, said he would defend Medicare and Medicaid from privatization efforts.

“I will stand up for what I believe regardless of what party leaders tell me, and today that means defending Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid against privatization and ill-conceived cuts."

Former New York city Mayor Ed Koch launched robocall attacks on state legislators, many of them Senate Republicans, whom Koch says have violated a pledge they signed to back non-partisan redistricting. And it’s not just the Republicans who are wary of changes to the way New York designs it’s legislative and congressional district lines.

The City Council voted 38-12 Wednesday afternoon to rename the bridge in honor of the former mayor who was born and raised in the Bronx and represented Manhattan's East Side in Congress before becoming mayor in 1977.