Former Mayor Ed Koch expects to be released from the hospital this week

Former Mayor Ed Koch is having his fluid buildup treated at a city hospital and expects to be out by Thursday, spokesman George Arzt said.

Koch, 88, was admitted to New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center on Saturday night, and though he hopes to be out soon, doctors have yet to give an estimate.

"Of course, that's him saying that -- not the doctors," Arzt said of Koch's Thursday prediction.

"He said that the good thing about this hospital stay is that this time it's pain free," Arzt added.

Doctors told Koch, who loves Peking duck, adores Chinese food, and meets with a gang of friends each weekend for brunches that are often lox laden, he must eliminate salt from his diet.

Should Koch, who has been hospitalized three times in the past five months, be home by Saturday, the circle "might order out" to spare him a restaurant outing, Arzt said, "and we won't be shy about telling him what he shouldn't eat."