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Rev. Al Sharpton: Koch Was 'Authentic'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Rev. Al Sharpton was one of Mayor Ed Koch's loudest critics, but was remembering the mayor fondly upon his death Friday.

As WCBS 880's Peter Haskell reported, the late mayor and the Rev. Sharpton butted heads for years. But Sharpton always respected Koch.

"He was authentic," Sharpton said. "He never patronized you."

Sharpton recalled when Koch appeared with him in unfriendly territory – a church in Harlem.

"And I remember he walked out on the pulpit that night, and this in the height of the Giuliani years, and he just opened his arms and said, 'Do you miss me?'" Sharpton said. "And the whole crowd stood up and started clapping, to my shock. That was Ed Koch."

But Sharpton does fell Koch had a blind spot when it came to race relations in the city.

Rev. Al Sharpton: Koch Was 'Authentic'

Please leave your memories of Mayor Koch below...

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