NEW YORK — Ed Koch is being remembered as the quintessential New Yorker — an admired but tough, colorful former mayor who will be honored at his funeral by former President Bill Clinton.
At the service Monday morning at Manhattan’s Temple Emanu-El, mourners will also hear about Koch’s other fierce loyalty: Israel. The Israeli consul general is set to speak, along with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
And New York Police Department helicopters are expected to fly over the synagogue in honor of Koch.
Koch was a friend of both Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton, and was helpful during her successful campaign for the U.S. Senate from New York, according to Koch spokesman George Arzt.
Koch also backed Hillary Clinton in her presidential run.
Bill Clinton will serve as a representative for President Barack Obama at the funeral.
Koch died Friday of congestive heart failure at age 88.