Lhota Facing Anger After He Likens Port Authority Police to ‘Mall Cops\'

It was a simple question about improving airport security, the kind that candidates for mayor field up to three times a day at campaign forums across New York City.

Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times “I regret my unfortunate characterization of the Port Authority Police Department.”
JOSEPH J. LHOTA, Republican candidate for New York mayor

But a flippant reply from Joseph J. Lhota, a Republican, has unleashed an unusually angry and biting reaction from the region's police officers, inflaming a group that Mr. Lhota has long viewed as a natural political ally.

The episode was the first real blunder of his four-month-old campaign.

In his answer at a forum on Tuesday night, Mr. Lhota, a former chairman of New York's public transit agency, said he had long harbored reservations about the quality of the police officers for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who are responsible for securing the region's three major airports.

“Quite honestly, and I know I will get in trouble for saying this, they are nothing more than mall cops,” Mr. Lhota said, to scattered applause from the audience at Pace University in Lower Manhattan.

He went on to complain that Port Authority officers, who police a number of high-profile facilities like the Port Authority Bus Terminal, earned higher pay than the city's police officers.
Mr. Lhota's prediction of fallout was correct: Twitter erupted over his tart assessment, and by Wednesday morning, unions representing police officers in much of the New York region, as well as Mr. Lhota's Republican rivals, roundly condemned his words as deeply insensitive and inaccurate.

“Mr. Lhota's remarks are an insult to every man and woman who put their lives on the line every day as a police officer,” said James Carver, president of the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association.

The Port Authority police force lost 37 officers at the World Trade Center site on Sept. 11, 2001, a figure that many police union officials cited as they denounced Mr. Lhota's comments.

“I've had 9/11 widows call me this morning,” said Paul Nunziato, president of the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association. “They are not pleased at all.”

In a show of solidarity, even the head of the powerful union representing the New York Police Department's officers weighed in, disapprovingly.

“On 9/11 we searched together for 23 N.Y.P.D. officers and 37 P.A.P.D. officers who sacrificed their own lives while evacuating others to safety,” Patrick J. Lynch, the president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, said in a statement, referring to the two police forces.

“If that doesn't speak to professional policing, then I don't know what does,” Mr. Lynch added.
On Wednesday morning, Mr. Lhota issued an apology. “I regret my unfortunate characterization of the Port Authority Police Department,” he said. “It was an inappropriate answer that does not accurately reflect the hard work of its officers.”

It was an unexpected headache for Mr. Lhota, the son of a New York City police lieutenant and a longtime deputy in the administration of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who was a defender of the police throughout his tenure.

As deputy mayor for operations, Mr. Lhota himself raced to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. Later, he said he had developed cancer from exposure to materials at ground zero.
In that sense, he would seem a friend of the region's police officers. But the fierce response to his statements at the forum suggested that he had squandered at least some of that good will.

His remarks left political analysts scratching their heads; appealing to police officers and their families has long figured into the political calculus of any Republican seeking to be mayor.

Mr. Lhota's chief Republican rival, John A. Catsimatidis, quickly pounced, issuing a personal jab at Mr. Lhota. “It's sad that the son of an N.Y.P.D. lieutenant would take verbal shots at the Port Authority police or any law enforcement organization,” he said. “As mayor, I would support law enforcement, not knock it down.”

George T. McDonald, another Republican candidate, went a step further, listing by name all 37 Port Authority police officers who died on Sept. 11 in an e-mail demanding that Mr. Lhota apologize.

Mr. Lhota's apology, forceful as it was, did not satisfy Mr. Nunziato, of the Port Authority police union.

“What is his apology worth to the children of these cops or the widows?” he asked.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Mr. Nunziato said, his voice rising as he mocked Mr. Lhota. “I don't think he has a chance to be mayor of New York City and I would certainly be out there campaigning against him if he ever got close.”

A version of this article appeared in print on 05/09/2013, on page A23 of the NewYork edition with the headline: Lhota Facing Anger After He Likens Port Authority Police to ‘Mall Cops' .