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As the honor guard bore Ed Koch’s casket out of Temple Emanu-El onto Fifth Avenue this morning, the organist broke into “New York, New York” and the assembled mourners—several thousand strong—broke into sustained applause.

It was a moving moment, the perfect gesture for a man who was irascible, irreverent, impossible, vindictive, passionate, egotistical, witty, wise—and above all joyful—throughout...

Mayor Edward Irving Koch, who reigned over New York City from 1978 though 1989, was as irrepressible as the town he led. He was intensely proud of his role in guiding the city away from bankruptcy in the 1970s and for starting a system of merit selection for city judges. He had a right to be.

Without his driven, muscular leadership, New York might never have turned around its rapid deterioration...

For many Northeastern Republicans in the House of Representatives, life isn't so easy.  

They’re caught in the middle. To have genuine influence, they must go along to get along, often with hard-liners in the party who can seem angry about everything these days -- about government, about the president, about modern life in general. Some play the go-along game better than others.

Rep....

The Pentagon on Wednesday said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is removing the ban on women in combat—a move that will allow them to serve in hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and elite commando jobs.

That’s a great step forward for equality.

But where, you might ask, are the front lines in Afghanistan? And where exactly were they after we had shocked and awed our way into...

You’ve probably seen the United Federation of Teachers’ ads on television. Against a background of dark, brooding music, they accuse New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg of “going after teachers again.” Why? Because he has “no strategy to improve schools.” Because it’s “his way or the highway.” Because “it’s time to put politics aside” and come up with a “fair evaluation system” for the city’s 75,000...

How gun-saturated is this country today?

Let’s start with the story of the 7-year-old boy who police say brought a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol into Wave Preparatory School in Far Rockaway, Queens, on Thursday. Along with the gun, the second-grader had a separate magazine loaded with 10 bullets in his backpack and 7 to 10 additional rounds in a plastic bag, according to police.

There...

So why are the 8,800 school bus drivers of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1811 planning to strike on Wednesday morning?

If you watch the union’s television ads, you might think it’s because New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg would rather pinch pennies than invest in the safety of children by giving the drivers more job security. 

“This is about safety and experience,” says Local...