Ed Koch (1924-2013) was the mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. In the 1970s, New York City was near bankruptcy. Koch said during his inauguration on January 1, 1978:
   
“These have been hard times. We have been tested by fire. We have been draw across the knife-edge of poverty. We have been inundated with problems. We have been shaken by troubles that would have destroyed any other city. But we are not any other city. We are the City of New York, and New York in adversity towers above any other city in the world.”
   
New York City mayor Eric Adams was elected during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, and repeated Koch’s words on January 1, 2022. “He (Adams—ed.) also quoted former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, saying ‘New York in adversity towers above any other city in the world’” was posted on CBS News on January 1, 2022.
   
         
Wikipedia: Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch (/kɒtʃ/ KOTCH; December 12, 1924 – February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989.
 
2 January 1978, New York (NY) Times, “Text of Address Delivered by Koch at His Inauguration as Mayor of New York City,” pg. 13, col. 5:
These have been hard times. We have been tested by fire. We have been draw across the knife-edge of poverty. We have been inundated with problems. We have been shaken by troubles that would have destroyed any other city. But we are not any other city. We are the City of New York, and New York in adversity towers above any other city in the world.
   
Gothamist
How Did Ed Koch Do?
BY JEN CHUNG
NOV 8, 2005 8:39 PM UPDATED: MAR 7, 2008 6:52 AM
(...)
When we looked up Koch’s bio on the city website, there’s this quote from his inauguration:
 
These have been hard times. We have been drawn across the knife-edge of poverty. We have been shaken by troubles that would have destroyed any other city. But we are not any other city. We are the city of New York and New York in adversity towers above any other city in the world.
 
Twitter
Larry
@Lsquare28
”...But we are not any other city.We are the city of New York & New York in adversity towers above any other city in the world.“Ed Koch,1978
6:50 PM · Feb 1, 2013·Twitter for iPhone
   
2 February 2013, Daily News (New York, NY), “Legend Was the DiMaggio of N.Y.C. Mayors,” pg. 10:
Then came Koch. With New York at bottom, he took the bus to his inauguration and had the optimistic nerve to call for “urban pioneers” to come and “grow up with the City of New York.” “These have been hard times,” he proclaimed. “We have been tested by fire. We have been drawn across the knife edge of poverty. We have been inundated by problems. We have been shaken by troubles that would have destroyed any other city. But we are not any other city. We are the City of New York, and New York in adversity towers above any other city in the world.”
 
Twitter
Julia Marsh
@juliakmarsh
Then @NYCMayor quotes Koch who said, “New York in adversity towers above any other city in the world”
12:19 PM · Jan 1, 2022·Twitter Web App
 
CBS News
Eric Adams says “we will not be controlled by crises” in first speech as New York City mayor
UPDATED ON: JANUARY 1, 2022 / 12:45 PM / CBS NEWS
New York City Mayor Eric Adams touted the city in his inaugural speech Saturday and said it would not be closed down amid skyrocketing COVID-19 cases. Noting that the past two years have been “continual crises,” Adams said “this will be our New Year’s resolution: We will not be controlled by crises.”
 
Adams, who is originally from Jamaica, Queens, and now lives in Brooklyn, quoted former Mayor David Dinkins and called the city a “gorgeous mosaic.” He also quoted former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, saying “New York in adversity towers above any other city in the world.”