Wednesday night's surprise appointment of Joe Lhota as MTA chairman may have triggered a sense of déjà vu. That's because Lhota has held the position before — just one stop on a long career in public life. NY1's Bobby Cuza has more.

"It's probably the most difficult job in city government," Rudy Giuliani said while he was mayor.

Joe Lhota has had tough assignments before. From 1994 until 2001, he was a close aide to Mayor Giuliani, holding a series of top positions in city government, including budget director and deputy mayor for operations.

Lhota spearheaded the closure of the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island; said NYPD patrol cars, in order to save money on point, should no longer be blue; and he was in the middle of the response to the September 11th attacks. His exposure to toxins there, he said, led to lymphoma.

Lhota would go on to spend a decade in the private sector before returning to public life in 2011, when Gov. Andrew Cuomo tapped him to run the MTA.

While he held the post for barely a year, Lhota won widespread praise for steering the system through Superstorm Sandy, shutting it down before the storm, and bringing it back online quickly.

"Service began this morning at 10 o'clock," said Lhota after the storm.

Barely two months later, he stepped down to explore a run for mayor. "This will be a life-defining decision," Lhota said.

Lhota, of course, did run, capturing the Republican nomination with relative ease. But he never seemed totally comfortable on the campaign trail. And despite some help from old friends like Giuliani, he was steamrolled in the general election, losing to Bill de Blasio by 49 points.

Lhota would then take an executive position at NYU Langone Medical Center.

Fiscally conservative but socially liberal, he's been a harsh critic of our current president.  "—actually throw Donald Trump out of the Republican Party," Lhota said on the Road to City Hall.

On his frequent appearances on NY1, he also ruled out a rematch against de Blasio.

Errol Louis: Are you going to run for mayor in 2017?

Lhota: No. I'm not going to run in 2017.

Errol Louis: Definitely not?

Lhota: No.