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Fare Hike Approved, Lhota Officially Announces His MTA Exit
By
Garth Johnston
Published Dec 19, 2012
Modified Dec 19, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Dec 19, 2012
Modified Dec 19, 2012
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Yesterday it was speculation, today it is official. After ushering in a good old fare hike Joe Lhota is sending his resignation into Governor Cuomo's office today. "It's bittersweet, my decision to send this letter to the governor," he said. "Its been a privilege."
It will be interesting to see how a Lhota campaign shapes up. Despite today's fare hike and the ill will it will certainly bring, Lhota is still riding a surge of warm feelings after he led the MTA in a remarkable post-Hurricane Sandy recovery. And there is every reason to believe he can raise quite a bit of money for his campaign thanks to his old boss, Rudy "Mayor of 9/11 Town" Giuliani, and his wife Tamra—who used to be a major fund-raiser for Giuliani. Lhota was a deputy mayor under Giuliani and according to the Post's sources "Giuliani's circle believes it can raise $10 million for him to run, a sum that would keep the race competitive."
Considering that the frontrunner for the mayor's office, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, is widely considered to be Mayor Bloomberg's chosen heir suddenly the 2013 election is looking like a referendum on the city's last two mayors. Do New Yorkers want more Giuliani time? Or more CityTime? We'll just have to wait to see if former Mayor David Dinkins endorses William Thompson again—Ed Koch already gave his support to Quinn.
Meanwhile, in case you were curious who would be taking over the MTA when Lhota steps down at the end of the month, the MTA board today voted to make former mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer the vice chairman, which will let him to succeed Lhota as acting chairman.
Tagged
Election 2013
joe lhota
MTA
rudy giuliani
Garth Johnston
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