There was always a love-hate relationship with New York in the rest of the country, but I made them feel more love than hate.

Koch frames New York’s national image as a perennial ambivalence: admiration for its cultural and economic magnetism paired with resentment of its perceived arrogance and dominance. By claiming he made Americans feel “more love than hate,” he casts his mayoralty as a kind of public-relations and civic-confidence project—selling the city’s vitality while softening its rough edges. The line also reflects Koch’s trademark boosterism and combative charm: he acknowledges hostility without conceding to it, and positions himself as an emissary who translated New York’s intensity into something more broadly appealing. Implicitly, the quote argues that leadership can reshape a place’s reputation by changing both realities on the ground and the story told about them.