Thanks, David Koch

David Koch made most of his billions in oil and gas. His personal philosophy is libertarian. He bankrolls Republican candidates and conservative causes. All of which is to say: He’s a bogeyman to many in this overwhelmingly liberal, Democratic city. One we should thank as, in ailing health, he retires. For he has enriched the cultural and civic life of our great metropolis, in the best tradition of the superwealthy over the generations.

Through the David Koch foundation, the Upper East Side magnate’s charitable giving has few equals — Rockefeller, Carnegie and Bloomberg come to mind. Overall, he has pledged or contributed $1.3 billion to cancer research, medical centers and educational and cultural institutions.

That includes a $100 million gift in 2014 to New York-Presbyterian Hospital for an ambulatory care facility dedicated to cancer, digestive diseases and other conditions. Deranged liberal groups, considering the lifesaving cash irredeemably tainted, demanded the hospital give it back.

In 2015, he gave a record $150 million to Memorial Sloan Kettering, the great cancer center.

In 2012, he gave $35 million to the American Museum of National History.

In 2008, he pledged $100 million to renovate Lincoln Center’s flagship theater. And $65 million to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exterior plaza renovation and redesign

Koch’s largesse doesn’t mean that political opponents should stop speaking out where they vehemently reject his and his brother’s political crusades. The men use their fortune to underwrite advocacy of lopsided tax cuts. To turn back gun regulations. And if climate change is a war, they’re on the enemy frontlines.

But liberals shouldn’t forget that the brothers happen to be for gay marriage, for legalizing marijuana and for criminal-justice reform. Nor should they discount the living, lasting legacy of his investments: great institutions fit to serve this city we love.