The knife of corruption endangered the life of New York City. The scalpel of the law is making us well again.

[The UN should remain in New York] because every country needs a cesspool. And the UN is always interesting as a theater of the absurd.

When I came in, the city was on the edge of bankruptcy. I'm proud of what I did. I built the foundation that mayors after me built upon - particularly Bloomberg. But the foundation was essential because if it hadn't occurred, we would have been another Detroit.

We're in the hands of the state legislature and God, but at the moment, the state legislature has more to say than God.

I want to come back as me.

When I was first elected I got 50% of the vote in '77 in the general election. In '81 I got 75%. In '85, I got 78%. No mayor has ever gotten that high a vote. So it was not an issue. Except for people who were very hostile to me. They thought they would injure me.

In a neighborhood, as in life, a clean bandage is much, much better than a raw or festering wound.