"Another undeniable fact is that he sensed the political ramifications of almost any situation.
Mr. Koch, who was Jewish but did not keep kosher, said he had choked on a
piece of watercress. Six years later, he acknowledged to reporters that
he had also been eating spare ribs. There is little question that the
“watercress” was a wedge of pork. But back in August 1981, Election Day
was three months away. Under no circumstance, as he himself said later,
was he about to needlessly alienate even one observant Jewish voter."
