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Edward KocheEdward Koche
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letter for drinking and gambling and the sale of dope, and they have undercover people there. He said, “We've gotten some pretty good arrests and even some sentencing for gambling. We got even as much as 90 days for gambling.” Which is a lot.

I've had a conversation on this subject with John Sawhill, who is the new president of NYU. He invited me over when he took office. We had lunch. He raised the subject of Washington Square Park, and we talked about it. I said, “Listen, I think you've got to be honest about this black racial situation.” He said, “I agree with you.” He said, “I won't hesitate to make it clear that it is a black situation in terms of who's causing the major problems or the anxieties in the park and that they're legitimate anxieties.”

I think I've mentioned it once, and I'll mention it again if I haven't. This black-white racial confrontation is one of the real problems, and white a politicians run away from it. And I'm really wrestling with myself to make appropriate statements. I always test a liberal when we get on this subject, because it's very tough for them to accept reality. I say, “You know, if I walk on Greene Street between Washington Place and 8th st. at 6 o'clock in the morning when I'm going to get a taxi to go to LaGuardia, and three black guys walk towards me at 6 o'clock in the morning, I feel somewhat more intimidated than if three white guys were walking towards me at 6 o'clock in the





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