Love him or hate him, no one can deny that Ed Koch loved his city. Often described as the “quintessential mayor of New York,” Koch had none of the glamor expected of someone in such a formidable position. Like the city he took control of in 1977, he was loud, brash, flawed, but proud. Above all, his memorable characteristics and firmness in his convictions defined his leadership. “Part of what was most refreshing and most appalling about Koch is that he will stand up for what he believes in,” the Rev. Al Sharpton, one of Koch's great critics, said of Koch. . “He won't say what you want him to say...And he won't be intimidated anyway” {ABC News, 2013}. So why didn't minorities like him so much when he was mayor? Mayor Ed Koch had very poor relations with minorities because his direct leadership style made him appear insensitive to racial issues, he struggled with the city's crackdown on hate crimes, and strong cultural responses from minorities made Koch hate him. acceptable. making him an effective decision maker, this fostered a perception of antagonism towards minority groups. He thought about solutions that would benefit the city for many years, and he knew they would initially affect minority communities the most. During the budget cuts of 1983, when "...the city was not receiving enough money to balance the budget" {Soffer, 235}, Koch met with minority politicians and informed them that minority neighborhoods would suffer the most. more. He encouraged them to push for additional aid to compensate for “the lack of services in the neighborhoods” {235}. Fortunately, he did not pay a heavy price as New York managed to recover from the recession faster middle of paper...... tension. During the 1988 New York presidential primary campaigns, Koch launched a relentless attack on Democratic Party candidate Rev. Jessie Jackson, claiming that Jews would be "crazy" to vote for him, accusing him of “arrogance and contempt”. {NY Times, 1988}, and accusing him of having lied in 1968 about the death of Martin Luther King in his arms. Mayor Koch's fiercest and most powerful opponent, his voice, won him both his credibility with minority voters and his fourth term. In the end, even as the mayor claimed his "style" {NY Times, 1987} had changed, he attempted to repair the rift he had created with minorities by calling meetings, pleading for "exquisite sensitivity toward others” {1987} and by expressing oneself openly. Following the Howard Beach incident in which white youths hit and killed 23-year-old Michael Griffith with their car, it seemed too late..