Koch left $100K to longtime secretary

NEW YORK, March 12 (UPI) -- Ed Koch, the firebrand former mayor of New York City who died earlier this year, left $100,000 to his secretary of almost 40 years, his lawyer said.

Mary Garrigan, who first met Koch when he hired her as his secretary in his congressional office in 1975, was a devoted worker who handled all of Koch's private business and personal correspondence. Those in the liberal's inner circle said she was "like family" to Koch, The New York Times reported.

"She had no agenda but Ed," said Diane Coffey, Koch's chief of staff. "Ed always enjoyed people like that."

Coffey said Garrigan's discretion never wavered and she regularly avoided the limelight in favor of a quiet loyalty to her boss and his agenda.

Koch, who enjoyed tweaking the city's elite "richies" during his time in office, was worth between $10.5 million and $11 million upon his death, his lawyer, Arnold N. Kriss said. Nearly all of that came after his three terms as mayor, from speaker fees, book sales and television appearances, including a stint as the judge of "The People's Court" in the 1990s.

Koch left much of his estate was left to family and various charities, though he never married and had no children. The particulars were spelled out in a will, drafted in 2007, the Times said Monday.