Joseph J. Lhota jumped into the Republican race for mayor with the support of his former boss, Rudolph W. Giuliani, and now, a little more than two weeks before Primary Day, he is deploying Mr. Giuliani in a new 30-second advertisement, titled “Wrongly Attacked.†The ad is a response to a new attack ad by his major opponent in the Republican primary, the billionaire John A. Catsimatidis.
Mr. Giuliani says the attacks on Mr. Lhota are false; in fact, the critique of Mr. Lhota by Mr. Catsimatidis had some elements of truth. Mr. Lhota did sign off on higher subway fares and bridge tolls at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as Mr. Catsimatidis charged, but the increases, intended to close a budget gap, had been planned before he took over the agency. Mr. Lhota did once refer to some police officers as “mall cops,†but he was speaking specifically about officers of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. A third claim, that Mr. Lhota “created†a job for himself, is false; Mr. Lhota was nominated to the position by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
When Mr. Giuliani says that Mr. Lhota was “by my side in our most difficult time,†he is referring to Sept. 11, 2001, when Mr. Lhota was his deputy mayor for operations and raced to the World Trade Center to assist the rescue effort after the terror attacks. Mr. Lhota was also Mr. Giuliani’s finance commissioner, oversaw the city budget and negotiated with government-employee unions.
For Mr. Lhota, it was always a question of when, not if, Mr. Giuliani would campaign by his side. Mr. Lhota remains the front-runner and the establishment favorite, but the appearance of the former mayor at this stage in the race suggests that the financial resources and aggressive campaign tactics of Mr. Catsimatidis are proving tough to ignore. Mr. Giuliani remains a divisive figure for many New Yorkers, but he is a familiar face for the small group of core Republicans expected to vote in that party’s primary on Sept. 10; this advertisement could turn some votes in Mr. Lhota’s favor.
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