Joe Lhota

Joseph J. Lhota
Born	(1954-10-07) October 7, 1954 Bronx, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Public official, politician, investment banker
Known for	Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority; New York City Deputy Mayor for Operations; 2013 Republican mayoral candidate

Joseph J. Lhota (; born October 7, 1954) is a seasoned American public official and former political figure who held the position of chairman at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and served as New York City’s deputy mayor for operations from 1998 until 2001. He was the Republican candidate in the 2013 Mayor of New York City race. In January 2014, Lhota took on the roles of senior vice president, vice dean, and chief of staff at NYU Langone Medical Center. He resumed his role as MTA chairman in 2017, although without direct responsibility for daily management, and stepped down in 2018.

Early life and education

Born in the Bronx, New York, Joe Lhota is the son of Jackie and Joseph "Joe" Lhota, a New York City police officer. Raised within the Catholic faith, he identifies as a Christian. The family later relocated to Lindenhurst. As the first member of his family to pursue higher education, he graduated with honors from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in 1976, earning a degree in business administration. He further advanced his education by obtaining an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1980.

Private sector career

Following his graduation from Georgetown, Lhota began his professional journey at Arthur Andersen & Co. in Washington, D.C., where he worked for two years focusing on health care finance before enrolling at Harvard Business School. Upon completing his MBA, he dedicated fourteen years to investment banking with First Boston and Paine Webber, specializing in public finance for state and local governments across the country.

In 2002, Lhota assumed the role of executive vice president at Cablevision and president of Lightpath, a fiber-optic telecommunications company serving businesses in the New York metropolitan area. By 2010, he had joined The Madison Square Garden Company as executive vice president and chief administrative officer.

After his mayoral bid in early 2014, Lhota was appointed senior vice president, vice dean, and chief of staff at NYU Langone Medical Center, where he managed government relations, emergency preparedness initiatives, and strategic business planning.

Between 2002 and 2015, he was a board member of First Aviation Services, Inc., which transitioned to private ownership in 2015. In 2014, Lhota joined the board of Cablevision Systems Corporation and chaired its audit committee until its acquisition by Altice USA in June 2016.

In 2016, he took on an independent director role and became audit committee chairman at MSG Networks.

Giuliani administration

Lhota entered Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s administration in 1994 as chief of staff to the deputy mayor responsible for finance and economic development before quickly advancing to New York City finance commissioner. In 1995, he was named director of the New York City Mayor's Office of Management and Budget, and three years later was elevated to deputy mayor for operations by Giuliani. He also headed the mayor’s rat abatement initiative, earning him the nickname "Rat Czar."

In this capacity, Lhota served as Giuliani’s primary liaison with the White House, United States Congress, the governor of New York, the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Council, managing relationships with public employee unions and directing collective bargaining efforts.

Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed Lhota as chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on October 20, 2011. The MTA is the largest mass transit system in the United States, serving approximately 8.5 million passengers daily. While awaiting confirmation by the Senate, Lhota acted as interim CEO and was confirmed unanimously on January 9, 2012.

Under Lhota’s leadership, New York City Transit’s Fastrack initiative produced over $16 million in productivity improvements in 2012 by prioritizing maintenance at subway stations. In July of that year, he unveiled a $30 million service enhancement plan that restored previously eliminated routes and introduced new lines to rapidly growing neighborhoods such as Williamsburg, the South Bronx, and Brooklyn Navy Yard. He also improved customer access to MTA services by upgrading digital platforms including websites and mobile applications, and approved salary increases for MTA management personnel.

During Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, Lhota took decisive action by shutting down MTA operations and relocating trains to elevated locations to avoid storm damage. He promptly initiated a complimentary Rockaway Park Shuttle to assist residents in heavily affected Queens communities and maintained consistent communication about recovery progress through social media channels and local media outlets.

2013 Mayoral candidacy

Lhota stepped down from his role as MTA chairman on December 31, 2012, to focus on his campaign for mayor.<ref>On January 17, 2013, he submitted official filings with the New York City Board of Elections and New York State Board of Elections to formally begin his candidacy.<ref>

In August 2013, following a temporary halt of an MTA subway line in Brooklyn to rescue two kittens from the tracks, Lhota’s campaign declared that he would not have stopped train service under similar circumstances.<ref> This position attracted significant media coverage, including a provocative headline in the New York Daily News titled "Die, Kitties, Die,"<ref> and criticism from his Republican primary opponent John Catsimatidis.<ref> Democratic contenders opposed Lhota’s viewpoint, with some pledging to pause trains for animal rescues.<ref>

Lhota received endorsements from all three major New York City newspapers during the Republican primary. The New York Times remarked that "few people know better than Mr. Lhota how city government works."<ref> He won the Republican primary on September 10, 2013, securing 52.5% of the vote against Catsimatidis’s 40.7% and George T. McDonald’s 6.8%.<ref>

In the general election, Lhota earned support from Crain's New York Business,<ref> AM New York,<ref> Newsday,<ref> and The Jewish Voice.<ref>

His economic agenda focused on stimulating employment through municipal tax reductions, including cutting the General Corporation Tax, gradually eliminating the Commercial Rent Tax, reforming the Unincorporated Business Tax, and lowering the hotel tax.<ref> He also proposed offering tax incentives to private developers for constructing mixed-use housing projects that include affordable units.<ref> On education policy, Lhota aimed to double the number of public charter schools in underserved neighborhoods and supported school choice programs opposing restrictions advocated by Democratic candidate Bill de Blasio.<ref> Additionally, he promoted universal pre-kindergarten access without increasing taxes.

Lhota was defeated by de Blasio in the general election,<ref> garnering 249,121 votes, which represented 24.3% of voter turnout.<ref>

Return to MTA

In January 2017, Governor Cuomo designated Lhota to participate in the national search committee tasked with finding a new chair and CEO for the MTA. By June 2017, Cuomo officially nominated Lhota to reassume the role of MTA Chairman. During this period, Lhota continued his duties at NYU Langone, while Veronique Hakim took on the role of interim executive director.

Lhota’s reinstatement occurred amid the subway system’s 2017 transit turmoil, which featured incidents such as derailments, track fires, and severe overcrowding. In response, Cuomo declared a state of emergency and directed Lhota to present a reorganization proposal within 30 days. His plan involved measures like removing seats from subway cars to increase capacity, streamlining operational management, overseeing escalator and elevator maintenance, and prioritizing repairs on critical signals and tracks. Although the MTA faced scrutiny for emphasizing superficial improvements over fundamental infrastructure repairs, Lhota highlighted his commitment to improving the overall passenger experience both onboard trains and within stations.

On November 9, 2018, Lhota stepped down from his position as MTA chairman effective immediately and waived his $1 annual salary. Rumors surfaced regarding possible conflicts of interest related to his concurrent roles at NYU Langone and as a lobbyist; however, he initially refuted these claims. It was later disclosed in July 2019 that his departure was influenced by a ruling from the state ethics committee pointing to potential conflicts.

Personal life

Lhota is married to Tamra Roberts Lhota, whom he met during her tenure in Washington, D.C.. Together they have one child.

Raised in the Catholic faith and identifying as Christian, Lhota also has Jewish heritage through his maternal grandmother. When questioned about why he did not emphasize this background to resonate with Jewish voters, he responded that doing so would come across as condescending.

Political beliefs

Lhota advocates for pro-choice policies and supports same-sex marriage, reflecting New York City’s socially progressive environment while drawing from Jeffersonian republicanism and classical liberal thought. He publicly called for the removal of Donald Trump from the Republican Party following Trump’s comments on the Muslim ban and subsequently left the party in opposition to Trump’s agenda. In the 2020 United States presidential election, Lhota endorsed Joe Biden.

In 2021, Lhota revealed that he had registered as a member of the Democratic Party. During the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary, he named Kathryn Garcia as his top candidate choice, followed by Eric Adams and Andrew Yang as his second and third preferences respectively.

External links

• Joe Lhota campaign website
• NYU Langone Medical Center Biography
• Can Joe Lhota Save the Subway?

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