Former Three-Term NYC Mayor Ed Koch Dies at 88 Ed Koch, the colorful, charismatic mayor who became synonymous with New York City, died Friday of congestive heart failure at the age of 88. At a time when New York City was near the brink of extinction, out of money, fraught with racial disharmony and discord, a criminal danger zone and an urban punchline, former congressman Koch stepped up to defeat incumbent Abe Beame and served three terms from 1978-1989. </noscript> Follow Us Here’s Koch leaving the hospital in December after a battle with pneumonia. AP Photo/Seth Wenig Koch did not have a habit of picking up women, like Ann Reinking, seen here. AP Photo/Richard Drew Koch greets a commuter who had walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, a “bridge over troubled waters,” during a crippling transit strike in 1980. AP Photo/Carlos Rene Perez Follow Us