CRAIN'S NEW YORK BUSINESS ENDORSES JOE LHOTA

This came in from the Joe Lhota for Mayor Campaign.  Read the bold print that I highlighted. This endorsement seems to be less than flattering, and even states that the two are much alike. The big sticking point to me is that in a time when Madison Square Garden is negotiating a new deal with the city I do not like that Mr. Lhota was a top executive of Cablevison and MSG. Mayor Bloomberg gave enough of the city away to his friends.

  Crain's New York Business today announced their endorsement of Joe Lhota for mayor of New York City. 

Boiling down the two mayoral candidates to their basic experience and skill makes our choice clear.

Despite the candidates' rhetoric, picking the city's next mayor is not about Bill de Blasio returning New York to its crime-ridden past or Joseph Lhota implementing Tea Party policies. It's not even about their actual goals, which are similar: Both men aim to address the struggles of average New Yorkers, to stop punishing small businesses, to increase the city's supply of affordable housing and to expand early-childhood education.

Rather, New Yorkers should choose the candidate most capable of fulfilling these ambitions in an unusually challenging fiscal environment, judging by the latest battle in Washington. That depends not on ideology or charisma, but on management skill and familiarity with government. It also demands an understanding of the private sector's role in supporting the many public services that help make New York a global center of corporate might and entrepreneurial moxie. On all those counts, Mr. Lhota is the superior choice.

A moderate Republican with a libertarian bent, Mr. Lhota has a résumé tailor-made for the job. He was finance commissioner, budget director and a deputy mayor in the 1990s, and knows city government down to its granular details. Before his public service, he was an investment banker, and after it, was a top executive at Cablevision and Madison Square Garden. He then ran the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, famously getting the world's largest transit system rolling again after Superstorm Sandy.

Mr. Lhota, like all candidates, has shortcomings. He's not exactly inspirational, which would be a nice quality for a mayor, though not essential. While his ideas are good—such as dramatically increasing teacher training and building affordable housing on unneeded Postal Service and MTA properties—he hasn't offered enough big ones to capture the public's imagination.

Yet his strengths more than compensate. The first function of the city's CEO is to run its sprawling bureaucracy, and Mr. Lhota has the ability and experience to do that exceptionally well. He would break down the silos in which some city agencies reside, ensuring that they work together and within a clear chain of command. At the same time, he would not run roughshod over commissioners who understand their fields far better than he does. Mr. Lhota possesses a refreshing combination of competence and humility.

Mr. de Blasio also knows government well, having worked in it or with it his entire career. But the Democrat's management experience is thin, and he has not made a case for himself as chief executive. His economic plan centers on business mandates—a dubious strategy—and his school expansion depends on an unlikely tax increase, whereas Mr. Lhota would fund prekindergarten expansion by finding budget efficiencies. That exemplifies their differing philosophies.

For his breadth of knowledge, managerial expertise and mastery of city government, Crain's endorses Joseph Lhota for mayor.