Ed Koch (Getty)

Former Mayor Ed Koch thinks Chris Quinn is the best person to take his old job in 2013 now that he’s given up his dream of seeing NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly in City Hall.

“I urged Ray Kelly to run for the last year-and-a-half. He told me he would not. I urged him again, he told me he would not. And when he decided he would not, I started backing Chris Quinn,” Mayor Koch told Politicker. 

Back in March, Mayor Koch still held out hope for a Kelly campaign. He spoke before a crowd at the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association and said the commissioner was his top pick to follow Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Ms. Quinn was his second choice. In late June, he gave Ms. Quinn a $1,000 donation, and now, he thinks she’s clearly the cream of the Kelly-free crop of current candidates.

“I believe that she is the best one for New York because I think she’ll be in the tradition of being in the center–a center candidate like I was center left,” Mayor Koch said. “I think she’ll follow in the tradition of Mike Bloomberg, and of all the candidates, I think she has the most experience and the best philosophy to lead New York in these difficult times.”

Earlier this year, Ms. Quinn backed the proposal to rename the Queensboro Bridge in Mayor Koch’s honor. We asked the former mayor if her support for the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge helped secure his endorsement.

“It had nothing to do with the bridge,” Mayor Koch said. “That’s idiotic, I endorsed her before the bridge.”

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