Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch died early Friday morning. He was 88. A Bronx native, Koch first entered politics in 1967 on the City Council, representing Greenwich Village in Manhattan. He went on to serve in Washington in the House of Representatives from 1969 until 1978, but his real fame came from his three terms as New York City mayor. Taking office in 1978, Koch led the city out of a grim decade by rescuing the city from bankruptcy and implementing tough crime-fighting measures. But he left an uncertain legacy: his third term was marred by corruption and internal scandals as well as the lasting legacy of the AIDS crisis in his own neighborhood—not to mention questions about his own sexuality that he always refused to answer. After leaving office in 1989, Koch spent two years as a judge on The People’s Court, and he practiced private law. A film about his time in office, titled simply Koch, premieres Friday—the same day he died.