Word: koch
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...Koch has declared himself "chagrined and mortified that this kind of corruption could exist and I did not know of it." His ignorance may have been willful: during his first campaign for mayor, Koch, running as a reformer, secretly solicited the support of Meade Esposito, Brooklyn's powerful Democratic boss. Then, as mayor, Koch appointed Esposito's pal Anthony Ameruso as transportation commissioner, even though an advisory board had declared Ameruso unqualified. The transportation department went on to become the source of major scandals. Ameruso has been convicted of perjury, Esposito of corruption in a separate case. The mayor, says...
...what if critics complained that the city was increasingly crowded, dirty, overbuilt and unworkable? Koch could ignore them -- until two years ago, when disclosures of widespread corruption revealed that his administration was beset by the same complacency and cronyism that the mayor had denounced in his predecessors. Other problems festered. Black residents grew outraged at the New York City police, accusing them of the unwarranted shooting of blacks, including a 66-year-old woman killed as she was being evicted from her apartment. When three blacks were brutally assaulted by a gang of whites in Howard Beach, Queens, last December...
Then on Oct. 19 came the worst blow of all. The stock market collapsed, threatening to turn the city's golden economy to dross. Koch's miracle recovery had been built on the financial and business-service industries. Samuel Ehrenhalt, regional commissioner of labor statistics, puts the number of new jobs in the Koch era at 400,000. Openings on Wall Street more than doubled, while New York's traditional manufacturing base was allowed to fade. Now if Wall Street has caught cold, the city may come down with pneumonia. Economist Matthew Drennan of New York University's Graduate School...
...Koch reacted instantly to the crash by freezing the planned hiring of 5,200 new workers and postponing raises for 4,000 management jobs. As a result of his reassuring actions, the city's bond rating was upgraded last week to its highest level since the 1975 financial crisis. Investment Banker Felix Rohatyn, head of the Municipal Assistance Corporation, which oversees the city's finances, praised the belt tightening as a "good first step," but warned that "New York faces the potential of a very difficult period...
...Koch has been accused of basking in the spotlight while ignoring what goes on in the city's darker corners. He has been wounded most of all by unending investigations and indictments of members of his administration for bribery, perjury, extortion, skimming and conspiracy. City workers from top leaders down to parking-meter attendants and sewer inspectors, along with judges, Congressmen and state legislators, have been found guilty. U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani, the Republicans' white knight, claims more than 150 convictions by his office alone. Some targets were Koch's closest friends -- notably Donald Manes, president of the borough...