Background
Costikyan was born in Weehawken, New Jersey on September 24, 1924. He graduated from Horace Mann School, where his mother taught, and served in World World War World War II
Costikyan was born in Weehawken, New Jersey on September 24, 1924. He graduated from Horace Mann School, where his mother taught, and served in World World War World War II
He graduated from Columbia University in 1947, and Columbia Law School in 1949.
He was also the author of many books and articles on varied topics of public policy and political science. He clerked for a year for Judge Harold R. Medina at the United States. District Court. In 1951 he joined the firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, in his first position as an associate lawyer
He became a partner of that firm in 1960.
Costikyan was elected chairman of the New York County Democratic Committee in 1962, defeating Carmine DeSapio, and served two years. He was credited for removing Tammany Hall influence, thus reforming the Democratic Party and bringing it into the 20th Century.
He was Abraham Beame"s campaign manager in the 1965 Mayoral campaign. He served on commissions investigating the new York City government for Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller and Mario M. Cuomo.
He dropped out of his campaign for Mayor in 1977, but instead joined the campaign of Edward I. Koch, formerly a political adversary.
Coskityan died on June 22, 2012, at the age of 87, at his daughter’s home in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Costikyan was the author of many works on the law, public policy, and political science, including: Costikyan, Commentaries by Oral history.
"Ethnic Politics Lays an Egg". Oral History Interview with Edward North. Costikyan at Google Books.
Foreign many years until his death, he served as a member of the advisory board for the Center for New York City Law at New York Law School.