New York ( CNN ) -- Former New York Mayor Ed Koch has been dead for more than four months , but a mistake on his tombstone likely would have amused him . Koch was born December 12 , 1924 , but his tombstone at Trinity Church Cemetery in Upper Manhattan made him appear 18 years younger than he was -- December 12 , 1942 , was set in stone . The company responsible for the etchings on the marker became aware of the mistake Monday . The transposed numbers were fixed Tuesday morning using composite granite , according to George Arzt , Koch 's former press secretary as mayor and his spokesman until his death . The birth and death dates were added within the past 10 days , according to an etching company representative . Koch hired an inscriber after he purchased his tombstone in 2007 . He was able to see the engravings were etched as he wished ; however , there were no dates at the time , according to Arzt . `` Ed would have loved this attention and called the situation 'ridiculous ! ' `` Arzt told CNN on Tuesday . Koch was a U.S. congressman from 1968 until he ran for New York mayor in 1977 . He served three terms as the city 's 105th mayor , from January 1978 to December 1989 . Koch died of congestive heart failure on February 1 . He was 88 -- despite what his tombstone temporarily calculated .
Ex-New York Mayor Ed Koch 's tombstone featured wrong birth year until Tuesday . `` Ed would have loved this attention , '' a former press secretary says . Transposed numbers have been fixed , ex-press aide says .