Ed Koch - Early Life

Early Life

Koch was born in The Bronx, New York City, to a Conservative Jewish family residing in Newark, New Jersey, where his father worked at a theater. As a child he worked as a hatcheck boy in a Newark dance hall. He graduated from South Side High School in Newark in 1941. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1943 where he served as an infantryman with the 104th Infantry Division, landing in Cherbourg, France in September 1944. He earned two Battle Stars as a Combat Infantryman. He was honorably discharged with the rank of Sergeant in 1946. Koch returned to New York City to attend City College of New York, graduating in 1945, and New York University School of Law, receiving his law degree in 1948. Koch was a sole practitioner from 1949 to 1964, and a partner with Koch, Lankenau, Schwartz & Kovner from 1965 to 1968. A Democrat, he became active in New York City politics as a reformer and opponent of Carmine DeSapio and Tammany Hall. In 1963 Koch defeated DeSapio for the position of Democratic Party leader for the district which included Greenwich Village, and Koch won again in a 1965 rematch. Koch served on the New York City Council from 1967 to 1969.