For a freshly unemployed mass-transit worker, Joe Lhota sure has a way of making politicians take note.
The former MTA boss, who quit last week, hasn’t officially announced a run for mayor, but he’s already fundamentally shaken up the 2013 sprint for City Hall.
As The Post’s Josh Margolin and Dan Mangan reported last week, a spooked Council Speaker Chris Quinn made a “secret pact” with Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to keep him on the job if she wins.
That would make Kelly the top cop for a fourth straight mayoral term — a remarkable stretch in a remarkably tough job.
He’s certainly earned it. New York recorded only 418 murders last year, the fewest since the department began tracking the data 50 years ago.
Quinn’s choice is smart, but her timing is a bit obvious: With Lhota looming, she’s feeling heat on her right flank and wants to shore up her law-and-order cred.
Lhota has that in spades from his time as a deputy mayor in the Giuliani administration, when he helped guide the city out of the crime-ridden welter of the Dinkins era.
And his performance last year at the MTA, particularly during Hurricane Sandy, made him an attractive alternative to this year’s other likely mayoral wannabes.
The top Democratic candidates are truly a bland, progressive soup, so the possibility of a seasoned Republican in the mix is appetizing indeed.
If Lhota enters the race, it would be far more difficult for the contenders to ignore New York’s conservative Democrats and Republican voters. Call it the Lhota effect.
Which speaks to the advantage of having a healthy two-party system. Left to her own devices, Quinn might simply court her left-wing base. Instead, she’s trying to compete with a Giuliani Republican. Go figure.
Lhota was busy last week meeting with GOP officials in the five boroughs, kissing rings and preparing a fund-raising operation for a run at Gracie Mansion.
We can hardly wait for what’s to come next — and its effect on his rivals.