Mayoral Forum on Housing: Whole Lhota Nothing, DeBlasio Shines

For whatever reason the media continues to focus on Lhota as a viable candidate for Mayor.  Truth be told I'm not sure he can survive the GOP primary, let alone win a general election.  He was a decent MTA head and I wish he'd stayed to give the place a little stretch of continuity.  Instead, he'll be a minor footnote as a failed mayoral candidate.

On the other hand, dark horse candidate (and former District 39 city councilman) Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio made an impression on the crowd:

The big winner, though, was de Blasio, whose energy dominated the night. He drew on his experience working at HUD to back up his answers on housing policy; he pulled out his asthma inhaler to bond with a mother who said her daughter's respiratory problems were caused by housing project mold. He even got in the one oblique candidate-to-candidate shot. After Lhota said he "didn't know why" the design of public housing was so grim, de Blasio pounced. "Joe said he didn't understand why they were built that way. It's no secret Robert Moses didn't like poor people and people of color."

After Lhota loses the election, he'll have plenty of time to read The Power Broker.