the shtarke

this is what is known as an am ho-oretz

[Episcopal News Service]
Koch, 88, who called himself a secular Jew, died Feb. 1 of congestive heart failure. His funeral was held Feb. 4 at Temple Emanu-El on the East Side of Manhattan. Current New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former U.S. President Bill Clinton were among those who eulogized the three-term mayor who helped New York rebound from fiscal troubles in the 1970s. Koch remained a visible icon of the city.

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch.

The rector took Koch on a tour of the grounds and showed him where his grave would be in the non-denominational cemetery on a rise overlooking Amsterdam Avenue.

He was also instructed to have rails installed around his plot, so he ordered them.

It was widely reported that he paid $20,000 for the plot, which was one of the few left in all of Manhattan. Kochtold the New York Times in 2008 that the purchase had been a good investment because the stock market, unlike the price of cemetery space, had since gone down.