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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Former Mayor Ed Koch Honored Through $25,000 High School Scholarship

CARROLL GARDENS — A $25,000 scholarship in honor of late New York City mayor Ed Koch is being launched this spring at a Brooklyn school to support seniors on their path to higher education.

The scholarship will benefit high school students at Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies, a grade six to 12 public school founded in 2001 at 610 Henry St.

Five students looking to pursue a post-secondary degree after high school are each eligible to receive a $5,000 scholarship to support their goals, funded by international law firm Bryan Cave LLP, where Koch was a partner for several years.

The former mayor died on Feb. 1 at the age of 88.

After his third mayoral term, Koch joined the law firm Robinson, Silverman, Pearce, Aronsohn and Berman in 1990, which later merged, in 2002, with Bryan Cave LLP.

“We all miss Ed,” said Vincent Alfieri, managing partner at the law firm’s New York office. “We consider our time with him as a privilege.”

When the law firm was looking for a way to honor their partner and friend, they felt financially assisting New York high school students would be fitting, said Alfieri.

One of the reasons Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies was chosen was its “commitment to preparing students for college work,” he said.

Seventy-nine percent of 2006 freshmen in Carroll Gardens graduated in four years and enrolled in college, according to InsideSchools statistics. Of their 2008 freshman class, 82 percent graduated in four years, as compared to the citywide average of 66 percent, InsideSchools reports.

Last year, five students won Posse scholarships, a college access and youth development program for students who have been overlooked by traditional college processes.

Academic performance, teacher recommendations and community involvement will be considered in the scholarship’s selection process with a priority to students looking toward careers in public service or law.

Koch would have been “pleased to help young people pursue their dreams,” said Alfieri.