Lhota Boasts in Washington of M.T.A. Success but Is Quiet on Any Political Dreams

Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times Joseph J. Lhota, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has been mentioned as a potential candidate for mayor following his agency's performance after Hurricane Sandy.

WASHINGTON - As enthusiasm builds in certain political quarters for a mayoral bid by Joseph J. Lhota, no one seems more eager to highlight his achievements as head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority than Mr. Lhota himself.

Mr. Lhota traveled to Washington on Thursday to make the case to lawmakers for federal aid in the wake of Hurricane Sandy - and to put a plug in for his agency and its nimble response to the storm's devastation.

As Mr. Lhota detailed the damage caused to the mass transit system before a Senate subcommittee, he also peppered his testimony with reminders of his hands-on approach to storm preparations, and of the time he spent reviewing the destruction during the thick of the storm.

“At the height of the superstorm's surge, Governor Cuomo and I met at the Hugh L. Carey Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel in Lower Manhattan, and what we saw there was truly unbelievable,” he said. “We watched as more than 86 million gallons of sea water flooded the two tubes of that tunnel alone.”

He added that “just as this superstorm was unprecedented, so was the level of our preparation.” He noted the agency's success at getting some buses, commuter trains and subway lines running between 7 and 36 hours after the storm had passed.

“I could not have been more proud of the work of the M.T.A.,” he said, appearing at a sparsely attended hearing convened by a subcommittee of Senate transportation committee.

But speaking to reporters after the hearing, Mr. Lhota was not eager to discuss any plans he might have to seek the Republican nomination next year to succeed Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

Instead, he insisted that his main focus was on trying to “get the M.T.A. back up and running again.”

“Why do you guys want to talk about politics in Washington?” he said with more than a hint of irony in his tone.

His comments came a day after The New York Times reported that Mr. Lhota, who has been praised for his role in the recovery efforts, was seriously considering a run for mayor after top business leaders in the city reached out to him to gauge his interest.

For all his efforts to deflect questions about a possible candidacy, Mr. Lhota at one point seemed to acknowledge he was mulling one, telling reporters that “the time will come when I make a decision.” But mostly, he stuck to his script: that now is not the time for those kinds of discussions.

“As you know, under the public authorities law, I'm not allowed to even talk about running for public office,” said Mr. Lhota, who was a deputy mayor under Rudolph W. Giuliani. “I have not thought about it at all.”