Parts of the funeral were in Hebrew. Ido Aharoni, Israel's consul general, praised Koch's fervent support for Israel and called him "one of the most important and influential American Zionists of our time."
In another tribute to Koch, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney plans to recommend that the subway station at East 77th Street and Lexington Avenue be named in his honor.
Koch lost the Democratic nomination for mayor in 1989 to Dinkins, but he maintained that he was defeated "because of longevity." As he put it: "people get tired of you."
But as the votes were coming in, he said he told himself, "I'm free at last."
James Gill, who was Koch's law partner, recalled Monday that after Koch was denied a fourth term, New Yorkers would often come up to him on the street and suggest he go back to running the city. But the former mayor, Gill said, would answer: "No. The people threw me out and now the people must be punished."
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Associated Press Writer Verena Dobnik contributed to this report.
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